It's insane to me that there are this many renter-owners

I own my house, and I do not understand why so many people are choosing to rent. This is very anecdotal, so I'll just describe my situation: <br><br>Outside of buying the house, my mortgage company pays my taxes and insurance. So my monthly payment is $1200 for a 3 bedroom 2 bath house. I have no HOA, and while I do pay a small fee for a community pool, I consider that way cheaper than joining a gym. <br><br>I had a good credit score, but no savings, so I had to get an FHA loan, which means I have to pay 0.45% mortgage insurance as part of my loan. It comes out to $300 a month. <br><br>So my total mortgage payment is $1500. <br><br>Now for utilities. I have to pay $50 for water but my city is amazing for it. All my utilities are combined into one bill, so gas, electric, trash, recycling, storm drain use, everything. <br><br>I have 2 kids and a wife, so 4 people in a 3 bedroom house. We do a lot of laundry and dish washing. <br><br>Our average utility bill is $300. We try to be conservative with lights, the temperature is set to stay between 67-72, and our youngest goes to bed by 8, so I turn off most lights then. <br><br>So my monthly house payment is $1800. <br><br>Now in Colorado, where I live, things are getting Pricey. I looked at several houses and but my house for $315k. The average 3 bed 2 bath house in CO right now is $500k+. <br><br>I live in a relatively new neighborhood (everything around me was built in the last 5 years) and half of the houses on my street are rental properties. I don't know how much they paid, but I know it was at least double what I paid, which is $630,000. <br><br>The average rent for a 3 bedroom right now is $2800. <br><br>It makes no sense to me for anyone to rent a house. Even if you make less money, with the cost of renting a house now, you won't have money for much else. It feels so much better to know that the money I'm paying is actually going towards something. I know I have to replace the roof in 2035, and the water heater in 2032, but aside from that, I don't really have any foreseen expenses. <br><br>Why would you rent a house with a 30 year lease when you could own a house for 1/3 to 1/2 of the price?