Renting Is Now $1,000 Cheaper Than Buying a Starter Home in the US: Report

Rents In The U.S. Fall For Third Month In A Row
An 'Apartments for Rent' sign hangs in front of a building on December 06, 2022 in Miami Beach, Florida. Reports indicate that apartment rents across the country dropped in November by the most in at least five years. National index of rents fell by 1%, the third straight month-over-month decline. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Renters in the United States could now save an extra $1,000 a month compared to those looking to buy their first starter home.

That is according to a new report by Realtor.com, which analyzed the monthly cost of buying a starter home with zero to two bedrooms. For the analysis, the real estate website assumed a buyer would put in an 8% down payment and use the 30-year fixed mortgage rate. The analysis also included other costs of homeownership such as HOA fees, taxes, and homeowners insurance.

In the top 50 metro areas in the US, the analysis found that the cost of buying a starter home was $1,067, or 61.3%, higher than renting a home. Additionally, the analysis found that renting is now the more affordable option than buying in all 50 of the largest metro areas in the nation. In contrast, the number of metros favoring renting was only 47 in the same period last year.

As of July, the median asking rent in the 50 largest metros was $1,741. In comparison, the median price of a home was $439,950, bringing the average monthly cost of homeownership to $2,808.

"With such cost comparisons, we are able to identify whether a market favors renting or buying," Realtor.com economist Jiayi Xu noted. "This is particularly important given today's landscape, marked by elevated mortgage rates and still-high home prices, posing substantial challenges for would-be homeowners."

Top Metros Favoring Renting Over Buying

In the top 10 rent-favoring metro areas, the difference between buying and renting costs was, on average, $1,944 or 94.1%. In most of these markets, there was a higher concentration of tech workers and high earners.

Austin-Round Rock, Georgetown, TX

Median Rent: $1,468

Monthly Homeownership Costs: $3,588

Difference (in dollars): $2,120

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

Median Rent: $2,068

Monthly Homeownership Costs: $4,286

Difference (in dollars): $2,222

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA

Median Rent: $2,797

Monthly Homeownership Costs: $5,581

Difference (in dollars): $2,784

Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN

Median Rent: $1,500

Monthly Homeownership Costs: $2,899

Difference (in dollars): $1,399

Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ

Median Rent: $1,524

Monthly Homeownership Costs: $2,920

Difference (in dollars): $1,396

Columbus, OH

Median Rent: $1,194

Monthly Homeownership Costs: $2,284

Difference (in dollars): $1,090

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

Median Rent: $1,481

Monthly Homeownership Costs: $2,788

Difference (in dollars): $1,307

San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, CA

Median Rent: $2,770

Monthly Homeownership Costs: $5,212

Difference (in dollars): $2,442

New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA

Median Rent: $2,887

Monthly Homeownership Costs: $5,229

Difference (in dollars): $2,342

Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

Median Rent: $2,973

Monthly Homeownership Costs: $5,309

Difference (in dollars): $2,336

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