Nobody Ever Looked Back and Wished They Hadn't Bought
There is a saying that floats around real estate circles so often it's almost become background noise: nobody ever regretted buying a home. Like most clichés, it survives because it keeps proving itself true. Over the years of working in Central Oregon real estate, I can tell you it's not sales pitch folklore. It's what the data consistently shows, and what I've watched play out in the lives of the people I work with.
So let's actually talk about why.
Your Mortgage Is the One Bill That Never Goes Up
Here's something worth sitting with: rent goes up. It has always gone up. Outside of rent-controlled markets (which make up a tiny fraction of housing in the country, and essentially none in Central Oregon) your landlord can, and will, raise your rent. Nationally, rents are projected to increase 3 to 4 percent annually through 2026, and that's considered a modest forecast compared to what we've seen in recent years.
Your mortgage payment, on the other hand, is fixed. The principal and interest you agreed to on day one is the same number you'll write the check for 10 years from now. While your neighbor's rent climbs a few hundred dollars, you're still paying the same amount you were when you moved in.
And that's before you factor in refinancing. When interest rates drop, you have the ability to refinance your loan and lock in a lower rate, reducing your monthly payment. You can also refinance once you've paid down enough principal to lower your payment without rates moving at all. Renters have no equivalent lever. Their options are pay more or move.
This sounds straightforward but the long-term math is striking. Over a decade, the divergence between what a renter pays and what a homeowner pays can be significant; and the renter has nothing to show for any of it.
You Are Building Something While You Sleep
Every month that you make a mortgage payment, two things happen. You reduce what you owe, and your home likely goes up in value. That combination is called equity, and it is the foundational mechanism of how most Americans build real wealth.
According to the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances, the median net worth of a homeowner in the United States is approximately $400,000. The median net worth of a renter is $10,400. That's not a typo. We're talking about a gap of nearly 40 to 1, and it has been widening. The National Association of Realtors, extrapolating from the same Federal Reserve data, puts the 2025 figures at $430,000 for homeowners versus $10,000 for renters — a 43 to 1 difference.
Home equity alone accounts for roughly half of a homeowner's net worth. The rest comes from the financial stability and discipline that tends to accompany owning property. But the equity is where it starts.
On the appreciation side, U.S. homes have historically increased in value at an average of roughly 4 to 5 percent annually over the long term, based on Federal Housing Finance Agency data going back to the 1970s. That's a 60-year track record. Even people who purchased near the peak of the 2006 housing bubble (arguably one of the worst possible times in modern history to buy) were, in most cases, back above water within seven to ten years and meaningfully ahead after that. The people who got hurt in 2008 were largely those who took on loans they couldn't sustain, not people who simply bought a home with a reasonable payment.
In Central Oregon, this story looks even better. Our market has outperformed national averages through multiple cycles, driven by the kind of lifestyle demand that doesn't evaporate when things get harder nationally. People want to live here. That doesn't change.
The "Just Rent and Invest the Difference" Argument
You've probably heard this one. The case goes: if your mortgage payment is higher than what you'd pay in rent, take the difference and invest it in the stock market. Over time, the stock market has historically outperformed real estate on a pure return basis.
This is a real argument, and in a spreadsheet it can hold up. But here's what the spreadsheet doesn't capture.
First, about 38 percent of Americans have no stake in the stock market whatsoever, according to Gallup. Not a brokerage account. Not an IRA. Nothing. Among households earning under $50,000 a year, that number drops further (only about 28 percent own any stock at all). The theoretical "invest the difference" strategy requires the discipline to actually invest it. The data says most people don't.
Second, roughly 27 percent of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings, according to a Bankrate survey. Only 46 percent of U.S. adults have enough emergency savings to cover three months of expenses. This isn't a judgment on anyone, rather it reflects how hard it is to consistently save and invest in an environment where costs keep rising. But it does matter for the math. The "invest the surplus" approach works if you actually put the money somewhere. Statistically, a large share of people spend it instead.
A mortgage is, in this sense, a forced savings account. Every month you make the payment, you own a little more of a real asset. You don't have to remember to transfer money. You don't have to resist the temptation to spend it. The equity builds whether you're being disciplined or not.
This is one of the most underrated aspects of homeownership, and it's why the Federal Reserve's own data keeps showing what it shows.
What Actually Makes the Difference: Buying Right
None of the above is an argument that everyone should buy a home regardless of their circumstances. It's an argument that people who buy in a healthy financial position almost always come out ahead over time; hence the cliché we started with.
So what does a healthy buying position actually look like?
A fully funded emergency reserve is the starting point. Before taking on a mortgage, you want three to six months of living expenses in liquid savings. This is what protects you when the water heater fails, when you need a new roof, or when your employment situation changes. Buying a home without that cushion is what turns manageable situations into stressful ones.
Debt-to-income ratio matters more than most people realize. Lenders typically cap the back-end ratio (all your monthly debts divided by your gross monthly income) at around 43 to 45 percent. But in my experience working with buyers in Central Oregon, the people who feel best about their purchase long-term are those who keep that number meaningfully lower. A payment you can make comfortably feels different than one that requires everything to go right every month.
Stable employment is the third leg of the stool. That doesn't mean you need to have been at the same employer for a decade. Lenders generally want to see two years of consistent income in the same field. But more than lender requirements, it's about your own confidence in your financial picture. If your income is steady and your foundation is solid, a mortgage becomes one of the best financial tools you have access to.
If those three things are in place: an emergency fund, a manageable payment relative to your income, and stable employment, the question shifts from whether buying is a good idea to when and where.
What This Looks Like in Central Oregon Right Now
Our market is in an interesting moment. Inventory has grown across Bend and the surrounding area. About 42 percent of active listings have taken a price reduction from their original ask. Median days on market is sitting at 56 days, but the average is over 100, which tells you that well-priced homes are still moving, while sellers who overreach are waiting.
For someone who's in a healthy buying position, this is genuinely one of the better environments we've seen in a few years to make a move. You have more homes to look at, more room to negotiate, and sellers who are more realistic than they were in 2021 or 2022.
For people who already own in Central Oregon, the data continues to support what you probably already feel: you made a good call. Equity in this market has compounded meaningfully, and the long-term fundamentals (limited land, strong in-migration, lifestyle demand that holds up through economic cycles) remain intact.
The Bottom Line
The reason the saying persists is not because real estate is magic. It's because owning a home, for most people in most circumstances, is the most accessible and reliable path to building real wealth that this country has. Not because it's guaranteed to go up in any given year. Not because it's without risk. But because over time, it builds equity, it hedges against rising housing costs, and it functions as a savings vehicle that works even for people who struggle to save in other ways.
The folks who bought in the worst year in modern memory still came out ahead. The data on homeowner net worth versus renter net worth says it plainly. And in a market like Central Oregon, where demand is structural and not just speculative, the case is even stronger.
If you're thinking about whether the time is right for you, I'd genuinely enjoy talking through it. Not a pitch, just a conversation about where you are financially, what you're looking for, and whether the numbers make sense for your situation. That's what we do, and it's where we can add the most value.
Reach out anytime. There's no pressure and no obligation. Just someone who knows this market well, and who's happy to share what we're seeing on the ground.