That's a very broad statement. Owning vs renting is dependent entirely on the local market. It hasn't been a good time to own in Detroit for a long time. It hasn't been a good time to rent in San Francisco in a long time.
2013, average home was around $850k, with monthly PI payments around $3450 (30 years, 20% down, 4.5% rate). [0] Meanwhile, average rent around that time was around $4000 for a two-bedroom. [1] Now, average rent is around $4500 while a house is closer to $1300k or $5270 PI... Certainly does not look like buying now is a good idea at all.
Unless you expect rent to break that $5270 mark. But, considering that gap is larger than the one seen in the past five years, with all the craziness that has involved... Seems like a pretty risky bet to me.
[0] https://sf.curbed.com/2018/4/5/17201888/san-francisco-median...
[1] https://www.rentjungle.com/average-rent-in-san-francisco-ren...