The US is already a country full of renters, in a sense.
Most people that own their homes, have less than 30% equity in it and never plan on paying it off. They just pay their monthly nut, and when they move they pay off the rest of the mortgage and take their gains and put it down on a new house and continue to pay monthly.
From a cash flow standpoint, it looks very much like renter who pays rent every month, and when he moves gets back his security deposit and uses it on a new home.
The biggest difference is interest rates. By law a landlord must put a renters security deposit in an interest bearing account.
For the past 20 years interest rates have been very low and that means appreciation of equity has outpaced interestyou’d get on a security deposit.
Home ownership used to mean actually slowly paying for a home that eventually you would never have to pay for. Now it just means paying a monthly fee for the rest of your life, which is eerily similar to renting.