More People Renting is GOOD!

Or that’s one way to look at the data, argues Annie Lowrey in Slate.com:

Contrary to the housing-bubble dogma that a mortgaged apartment or house provides a pathway straight to the American Dream—and contrary to the tax code, which encourages buyers and discourages renters with a huge break for mortgage interest—renting is better than owning for many Americans. Indeed, dozens of recent studies have shown that, excepting the go-go bubble years, houses tend not to make very good investments at all: A prospective homebuyer would have made more money taking her down payment, parking it in inflation-adjusted Treasury bonds, and renting.

As you know, I’ve not been a supporter of the theory that a house is a great investment, for awhile. (TFtT, E.)