This is because our current economy is skewed towards consumption with real estate and cars as the primary metric. I agree, I don't see it as a negative. I'm Gen X and I don't own a house or car.
It all depends on where you live and what your local market is like. I have a kid, and still don't need a car or house. I also live in NYC, so it's easy to do that. If I lived someplace like Houston, where there is almost zero public transport and houses are crazy cheap I might rethink things. That said, don't buy into social groupthink, don't buy a house if it doesn't fit your sensibilities.
Consumption is the driving force of modern capitalism generally, not particularly related to the current economy. Capitalism relies on surplus; the problem with this of course is that is wasteful but it seems we don't really have an equally successful alternative.
