Also, banks are often still making a profit with rental properties.
Which isn't to say you should buy a home blindly - you shouldn't do anything so major blindly. It seems to me the appropriate way to view it is: if your cost of owning a home sans payment of principle is less than renting, then you are "throwing away" money but the alternative is investing that piece you're throwing away plus quite probably more in the real estate market, with the corresponding potential upside and risk. In the extreme case where costs including principle are less than rent, then you should probably purchase. An additional thing to watch, though, is that people often under-estimate things like repairs.
All of which is to say, there is no obviously right answer.
Which isn't to say you should buy a home blindly - you shouldn't do anything so major blindly. It seems to me the appropriate way to view it is: if your cost of owning a home sans payment of principle is less than renting, then you are "throwing away" money but the alternative is investing that piece you're throwing away plus quite probably more in the real estate market, with the corresponding potential upside and risk. In the extreme case where costs including principle are less than rent, then you should probably purchase. An additional thing to watch, though, is that people often under-estimate things like repairs.
All of which is to say, there is no obviously right answer.