Most Millennials gave up on the idea of homeownership long before Sleepy Joe got elected. I was a senior in high school when the housing market crashed in 2008 and personally knew kids whose parents lost their homes. If you have a mortgage you’re not really the owner of anything. You’re just paying rent to the bank instead of to a landlord while having to pay for maintenance and repairs on top of it. There are cases where homeownership makes financial sense for a Millennial, but for the typical childless Millennial it’s a sucker’s deal. Most Millennials neither want nor need nor can afford a 2-story in the suburbs that is miles from their jobs.
Ever want something and someone else buys it before you can make your move? ... It happens all the time. Mortages can be useful in seizing those opportunities. It's all about taking control.
I agree that you're not the "owner", however you are the "controller", and that's much to be said for that. I'm going to make an offer on a plot of farmland. If I get it, it will be with a mortgage. Once I control that property I'm going to begin paying it down at it makes sense. While I'm maybe paying 4% on the loan for that property, the dollars I've not used to buy it outright can put into other use that may generate well over 4%.
Control first, own when it makes financial sense. If that requires a mortgage, so be it.