Through complicated financial tools with all kinds of different tax implications, fees, and mental/time burden for management, yes a small subset of medium to high income people can attain similar returns on investment as a homeowner while renting in certain situations. But the very backbone of the American middle class has always been home ownership. It’s a simple, understandable investment which holds tangible value regardless of it’s current market price. The tax incentives in the US for the average wage earner are so heavily skewed toward home ownership that it is almost impossible to make it into the middle class any other way.
I'm not sure what's simple or understandable about a basic staple of life whose real value is skyrocketing. It's not at all clear whether the next generation will actually be able to afford housing at anywhere near current valuations. Maybe future Americans can afford to allocate a greater share of their incomes to housing, but the economic effects of the disappearance of all non-housing consumer spending (as mortgages approach 100% of paychecks) might not be great for home values. Who knows? Anyway, not simple.
