Mid 30's guy - make over six figures, no wife, kids, or other expenses. I could easily buy my own modest home with cash, but instead I pay about $2K for a tiny

Mid 30's guy - make over six figures, no wife, kids, or other expenses. I could easily buy my own modest home with cash, but instead I pay about $2K for a tiny studio in the middle of an expensive city. I actually have been looking to buy a home in my high COL East Coast city this year, and here is why I'm holding off on it: 1. An actual 'home' like I grew up in with a few bedrooms, garage, yard, etc. within a one hour commute to most jobs would be $750K. Maybe I could get that down to $400K with a 2 hour each way commute. That's simply way too much money (taxes, insurance, upkeep) for a single guy, and the commute isn't worth it anyway. 2. I could buy the same type of tiny studio / one bedroom where I live for about $500K - way more than I'm paying for renting, all things remaining equal. In other words, renting is lower cost than owning at the moment. 3. I could buy the same tiny condo with an hour commute for $250K, but then I'm stuck there. The equity I gain is minimal since half the costs (about $1k / month) are HOAs, taxes, insurance, etc which will only go up over time. When it's all said and done, there is almost no reason for someone like me to own. If I had a wife and kids, maybe. But as a single guy no way. The low interest rates of the fed and lack of new construction ( NIMBY) have again pushed up prices to 5x-6x the median family income in my area - about as high as 2006. Mortgage interest deduction is worth almost nothing because rates are so low (contrary to the Realtor and mortgage industry), and it may be going away anyway. Jobs aren't stable enough where I'm comfortable being tied to one area. In our industry, even if your company doesn't lay you off or go under or whatever every 3 years, it's a bad idea to get to comfortable with one way of doing things - one framework, language, stack, etc. You need to keep jumping jobs if you ever want a raise. Nor do I feel like being tied to one locality or another when it's apparent many of them are woefully underfunded with their pensions / health insurance for retirees. Gouging home owners for higher property tax bills will be the main way they balance their books.