the primary benefit to home ownership is stability. While in the US, one has a "sane"/"professional" rental market (i.e. buildings that are built as rentals an

the primary benefit to home ownership is stability. While in the US, one has a "sane"/"professional" rental market (i.e. buildings that are built as rentals and managed as a whole). In many other markets, one doesn't have this. One essentially has individually owned apartments that are rented out by those individuals, without any strong form of protection in terms of required maintenance that needs to be done or the knowledge that as long as you're willing to pay market rent, you can stay for as long as you want. In those cases, its better to buy, simply for the security / control, even if its not the best "financial" use of money.