Someone stated that renting instead of buying is like throwing your money away.
I find that this rent vs. buy calculator is a great tool in estimating the value of renting vs. buying:
http://www.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/oca-bc.../ca01821e.html
It is almost impossible to find a situation where buying vs. renting is financially advantageous even over a investment horizon of 30 years (assuming the difference between rent and mortgage costs are reinvested).
This illustrates the problem of the divergence between price to rent ratio that I had posted in some of my earlier graphs. House prices are not substantiated by rental yields.
Personally, I have chosen not to buy this year. I believe it may be two or three years before there are some decent buying opportunities.
However, I recommend basing your choice to buy on your own lifestyle and economic situation.
I work as a petroleum engineer, so buying is not limited by affordability so much as being a poor investment decision. Lifestyle issues such as being mobile for work is also an important factor to me.