I'm a little surprised by all the answers that kind of assume that you're going to buy at some point as if that's the right thing to do. There are some upsides to buying a house, but if I had a chance to go back to my younger self (40 now), I would tell myself not to buy a house. I've done it three times and 1) made a lot of money; 2) lost some money; 3) looking about even on the current one.
My reasons for renting/not buying:
1) If you're not sure whether you want to live in the same place (country/state/city/house) for most of your life, then you have a rather large cost every time you want to buy/sell a house. Much easier to move closer to a job if you're renting.
2) Extra costs on a house are so often ignored/forgotten. In most countries (I live in the Netherlands), you have property tax, insurance, water, sewage, etc. You are responsible for all maintenance (roofs, wiring, plumbing, carpets, gardening, painting). Over the course of several years, these can add up to a lot.
3) OP mentions that they found an apartment that would be less than their expected mortgage. That's before all the extra costs of owning. That sounds better than buying.
4) Very important, and with much personal experience, is space. Many people buy a nice big house with many rooms and a big garden/yard. I lived in Canada and the US while growing up in big houses with big yards. I have lived for years in the Netherlands (also Tokyo and Milan) in small apartments with balconies or tiny gardens (with a wife, kid and cat). I can tell you (in my case) that the size of the apartment/house had very little impact on my happiness. Extra space means extra cleaning, extra maintenance, space for extra stuff (that you don't need). It feels brilliant at first to have all the space, but why not live smaller and spend your time outside enjoying the world.
5) As mentioned on this blog (and others), buying a house is rarely a good investment (moneywise).
Just wanted to give a counter point on the "obvious" choice to buy a house.