Yup, you have to work out how much of that $72,000 has actually "gone" to the landlord after taxes, maintenance, fees, and so on. I mean - you'd be paying $3k in property tax, $2.4k in HOA fees, so that's $16k of the $72k gone already!
Also, when interest rates go up... prices are likely to go down. If you save the few hundred a month you would otherwise be spending (ie $housecost - $2000) until prices come down a bit you will probably end up better off..
Rent = flexibility, too!
Don't get me wrong, I was renting til the middle of last year and hated it (after living in my own house for several years), and couldn't be happier now that I've moved back into a house I own. But my wife and I bought a (relatively) cheap house, with a decent garden, in a small town, near a river, etc, etc.