You're completely ignoring the downside of your home. If the job market in the area where you live declines, you'll find it more difficult to move to an area where you're able to find work.. and if the decline in your area is severe enough, you may also find yourself unable to sell your home and/or must sell at a substantial loss.
Your potential downside is not the difference between a lower rent and the cost of a home. Your potential downside is the entire cost of your home.
This is actually one of Shiller's points about rent vs ownership (mobility).
The real evil is that it's impossible to be zero-beta to housing, because even if you own your house (neutral position; renting non-owners are short) you are still exposed if you need to move. Unfortunately, I can't see a real fix for this except for more remote/mobile work.
One thing Europe has that is good is a lot of public housing, even for middle-class people (like typical renting programmers)-- not just US-style "projects". This is great because it keeps the price down on the private market as well. You still need to build enough to avoid scarcity, of course. Otherwise, you end up with hellish queues.
Your potential downside is not the difference between a lower rent and the cost of a home. Your potential downside is the entire cost of your home.
This is actually one of Shiller's points about rent vs ownership (mobility).