That's not even it; in most towns with a 20% down traditional 30 year mortgage, you do very well versus renting if all you count are taxes+interest as expenses, particularly as interest is tax-deductible but rent isn't.

However, you also have to pay maintenance. And had you not put all that equity in your home, then it could be earning above inflation, whereas real-estate in aggregate earns approximately at inflation (if you do better or worse, then you were a winner or a loser versus the average).