The house we are renting sold to a friend of ours last year for just under $800k. It was a fixer upper. We have been keeping an eye on the condo and townhome market, and most of them are $700k and up.
It would be much better to own, as our tax liability would drop enough to make up for any extra we pay on the mortgage, plus we would hopefully earn equity. But the down payment is considerably hard to generate on a $700k property.
Most of the people I know around my age and younger who do own either got in right after the market dropped in 2008, or their parents gave them enough to cover the down payment.
We do like the town we live in, so moving isn't an option. I don't know, we did make a bunch of changes in the last year to adjust our budget, so hopefully we will be clear of debt and have a bit saved up in a couple years. We would also need favorable market conditions, so we will see. I also don't want to say no to my kids all the time when it comes to competitive sports and family trips. They grow up fast.