Does everyone really need to own their own home? Until the recent housing market crash and the great recession, hardly anyone questioned the value of homeownership. It cured poverty, crime... everything but cancer.

But that infatuation with the white picket fence is ending. Thanks to the swift rise and calamitous fall of the housing market. Homes have become, in all too many cases, a huge financial liability. The opposite of what people signed up for.

The fact is, renting has real advantages over owning. It’s really not true that “you’re just throwing your money away.” You have more mobility in a modern economy. And renting may even be the better investment.

Through a series of personal case studies of homeowners and renters, WBUR's Business Reporter Curt Nickisch takes a hard look at the popular conceptions concerning housing, and the new calculus facing people today as they decide how - and in what sort of home - they want to live. Hide full description

Does everyone really need to own their own home? Until the recent housing market crash and the great recession, hardly anyone questioned the value of homeownership. It cured poverty, crime... everything but cancer. But that infatuation with the white picket fence is ending. Thanks to the swift rise and calamitous fall of the housing market. Homes have become, in all too many cases, a huge financial liability. The opposite of what people signed up for. The fact is, renting has real advantages over owning. It’s really not true that “you’re just throwing your money away.” You have more mobility in a modern economy. And renting may even be the better investment. Through a series of personal case studies of homeowners and renters, WBUR's Business Reporter Curt Nickisch takes a... Show full description