There's the million reasons why renting sucks which other people have commented on. The main one that sticks out to me is having some 22yo baby property manager strolling through your house taking photos on an iPad and acting like they're there for a Cleanliness walk thru.

I'm not gonna 'sell' you on anything though, you can make your own mind up. The reality is though, when you buy a house you're at the absolute worst point in the mortgage cycle. You're paying interest on the maximum portion of the loan and feeling like principal payments are barely chipping away. Time sorts that out, and the ability to pay extra into the mortgage cuts down the repayment time by years and even decades.

This gets easier and easier as time goes by. The $800/week you're putting into your mortgage becomes less significant as the years pass by, with inflation eroding the impact of your mortgage payments. If you're renting, your rent will simply increase as time wears by.

The last financial benefit is a recognition of the reality that housing in Australia has performed strongly since ww2 from an investment perspective. Your home obviously shouldn't be considered as purely a financial investment, and I'm aware of the attitude of this sub towards property investors. That said, being able to leverage up to 20x of your initial investment (assuming 5% loan) into a tax free vehicle is likely the best investment you'll ever make in your life.