There are pluses and minuses in absolutely all cases.
If you want to buy a place:
* you will most probably buy it a bit farther from where you'd work (so you can afford to buy it), meaning you lose a lot of time in commute (no matter if it's car, bus, train or whatever)
* taking a loan is, as you said, something not too easy to take and may need certain advance planning
* even if you buy a place, it won't be like you have no other costs than just paying it back, maintenance and utilities are to be paid
* if you lose your job you may be forced to quick-sell your place, possibly even at a (great) loss
* you may end up - sooner or later - with neighbors you simply don't want to live near them (stinky, noisy, whatever)
On the other hand:
* even if the place is bought with a loan, you can still sell it if your relation doesn't work out or you want to go working in another city or country; though it may worth it selling only after
at least 3 years
* the prices for houses/flats tends to go up - actually it's a sinusoidal with higher and higher ups - but it doesn't hurt watching the market and don't buy at top and sell at bottom; still it's usually a good long term investment.
Staying in rented place:
* no need for commitment
* it can be near (or at least not too far from) the work and the fun places
* you have the flexibility to easily go rent somewhere else if you change work or you don't like your neighbors
It's up to you to weight the pluses and the minuses; I' might have even missed some. In theory buying your own place is a great investment; in reality, not all cases/situations are that nice.
However, my analysis is valid for my country. Some points may differ in yours.
Yes I share the same outlook as NF
Taking a loan/mortgage on a house is a massive commitment and probably the biggest
financial decision the average person will make in their lives. While it has a clear advantage
it's also a massive weight on your shoulders to repay that back every month for over 20 years.
I have a mortgage and have been paying it back for over 15 years and still another 12 to go.
My insights into own a marriage are:
It's a struggle, a big struggle.
I am tied to this place, for the last 15 years I have not been in a position to move because
of negative equity.
Renting gives you a bigger degree of flexibility to move elsewhere, a different country
even.
The way I see it is many people as is their nature overextend their purchasing
of a house to get a loan/mortgage. So many people want simply what they cannot
afford in the long term (I'm also speaking from personal experience!)
The biggest benefit to taking a loan/mortgage is to be able to pass on the house
to sons and daughters.