Well, one thing is highly regulated and you are kind of forced to split the benefit of owning a RE. In the other side, if done properly, you keep all the gains and no one knows about it :)

supratic

charts_and_numbers

Demystification: The Monthly Cost of Buying vs. Renting a House in America

It should be more expensive to gain equity in a scarce asset than to rent. And this is with US subsidy of fixed rate loans. 

I would really like to see performance of investing in bitcoin the saved difference from renting compared to the small monthly equity gains from owning. Considering compounded interest of mortgages will eat into your real estate valuation gains and bitcoin's current growth in buying power, the two strategies could be pretty close. Time for an excel sheet. 