Renting is vastly cheaper than buying in many of the most expensive markets in the USA, if your only assumptions are like "borrows 30 year fixed at good credit

Renting is vastly cheaper than buying in many of the most expensive markets in the USA, if your only assumptions are like "borrows 30 year fixed at good credit rating current rates at 80% of the value of the property". Vastly. Fancy parts of LA. SF. All of New York. Pretty much anywhere in the train-serviced urban/suburban Northeast. It might not "make sense" but it is true. I'm also sure it's not the case in most markets in the USA, but in the large metropolitan markets, it is true, and that's the point people are making when they say "you know, it might make more sense to invest your investment money in a different asset class and rent rather than pay the ownership premium here in Santa Monica/Pacific Heights/Williamsburg"