One of the biggest things not counted in these stats is that if you have a mortgage you're banking equity. Instead of paying say $2000/mo on rent you could be

One of the biggest things not counted in these stats is that if you have a mortgage you're banking equity. Instead of paying say $2000/mo on rent you could be paying say $2500/mo on a mortgage but only $1000/mo of that might actually be interest. So even without capital appreciation on property you're ahead of the renter.