People don't necessarily buy then suffer the consequences of being rooted. Rather, one may be rooted because of family, preference, or because their job market is one place. Then they want to buy because if you are rooted, you might as well have greater control over your dwelling. If I rented my occupancy would be at the whim of my landlord, which is OK for apartments in the US, as apartment landlords generally have no reason to kick out tenants summarily (except in unstable markets, like perhaps the Bay Area.)

But most single family home landlords are small time operators who can't be counted on to provide long term occupancy. I would find such an arrangement untenable.

For those who want to be mobile I completely agree that renting makes sense, but for many folks being rooted leads to ownership, rather than ownership leading to being rooted.