The painful collapse of the housing market has soured many people on the benefits of home-ownership, and there's a new cottage industry of financial commentators who actively discourage Americans from buying a house. According to a new survey by, well, Rent.com, 87 percent of U.S. adults no longer think owning a home is "the most essential aspect of their American Dream." (Real estate site Trulia has its own survey, with completely opposite results.) Is renting wisely really the new aspiration for Americans?
Renting fits with the original concept of the American Dream: "The desire of many Americans to own a house won't go away," says Jon Talton in The Seattle Times. But let's not conflate that desire with a housing industry marketing campaign. "The 'American Dream' was once the right to [achieve] economic and social mobility amid political freedom." Well, the only housing option compatible with mobility and freedom is renting.
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