text: The attitude that "buying will always be better than renting" is what causes real estate bubbles.  It leads people to believe that they should buy at any cost, which is a bad idea.  Buying in Toronto in 1989 and selling 10 years later was most definitely not better than renting.  Buying in Toronto in 2006 and selling in 2016 was better than renting, but that doesn't mean it will be the same going forward.