Renting vs. buying

Yea.. I bought the whole own vs. rent thing, but this post "rent vs. buy myths" makes some very good updated points about the current housing market. I particularly like this one:

The reality is that housing is not an investment. It's shelter. That is all housing has ever been. Self-serving organizations like the National Association of Realtors like to tell people that buying a home is a good way to build long-term wealth, but this statement couldn't be further from the truth.

Although home prices can go up (and down), the rate of appreciation on housing does not surpass inflation levels over the long-term. Between 1890 and 2004, the real return on housing was a pathetic 0.4 percent per year over the last 100 years, according to Robert Shiller, a housing expert and Yale economist.

Real estate investments aren't that much better over the short-term. The gain in new home prices over the last 20 years has been a mere fraction of the Dow's gain. The average person investing in stocks between 1987 and 2007 would have made more money than the average person who bought a new home in 1987.

Downsizing is good. I've been living a far less material life the last 6 months and loving it. I'm currently renting as well (a 600+ SF place 2 blocks off the Pearl Street Mall here in Boulder). I could buy something like this, starting at around half a million dollars. Rent? $500 a month. No HOA fee's. No taxes. No upkeep.

I'm thinking renting is the way to go; at least for now.