What's also interesting is that transportation & communication are very much easier than they were for past generations. This is also combined with shorter time

What's also interesting is that transportation & communication are very much easier than they were for past generations. This is also combined with shorter times that a worker stays at a single job before moving on for another opportunity. Put all this together and nobody wants to stay in a single house for 10+ years, or even in the same city for that length of time: at this point, buying a house would be counterproductive -- even if you could afford it -- because the transaction costs eat you alive. For these reasons, a lot of us younger generation folks actually value a high-quality rental property more than buying exactly that same house. [Yes, sure, you buy the house and you'll eventually pay it off, but you'd be surprised how many people don't believe they will be able to afford to retire at all, much less accumulate any wealth whatsoever.]