I agree with you 100%, however, if you can afford a nice apt.. maybe one for 800 a month, maybe more. You can EASILY find a home for that per month and YOU have equity. Instead of putting your money towards something that you "throw" your money away, put it into something that you can invest in.
Stock Market might be down, but Reality is a pretty stable market. ESPECIALLY in Columbus, Im actually suprised you can find a house sub-100k in a good neighborhood.
Those are just my .02 though.