Buying Beats Renting In Most U. S. Cities

by Les Christie

For people who are willing to stay put for a few years, buying a home has become a much better deal than renting in almost every major housing market in the nation.

In more than 75% of the 200 metro areas analyzed by real estate listing web site Zillow, homeowners would reach a "breakeven point" - where owning the home makes better financial sense than renting it - in three years or less.

"Historic levels of affordability make buying a home a better decision than ever, especially considering rents have risen more than 5% over the past year," said Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow.

The survey was Zillow's first buy-versus-rent analysis, incorporating all homeownership costs, including down payments, closing costs, mortgage payments, property taxes, utilities and maintenance costs, and compared them to rental costs. It also took into account projected home price appreciation and rent increases, as well as tax deductions and inflation.

Zillow's findings support other reports that show that rising rents, record-low mortgage rates and falling home prices have made homeownership a more attractive option.

In some of the metro areas Zillow looked at, home buyers would break even in less than two years.
In Miami, for example, a homebuyer would only have to stay in their home for about 1.6 years for the purchase to pay off, Zillow said.

Homes in the metro area are selling for about 45% less than they were five years ago. Meanwhile, over the past three years, rents have climbed 20%, according to RentJungle.

Miami's metro area, along with Tampa, Fla., Memphis, Tenn., and several smaller cities, have the shortest break-even times of the markets Zillow analyzed.

Renters still have the upper hand in some cities. It would take home buyers in San Jose, Calif., 8.3 years to break even on their homes - the longest period of time of any of the metro areas Zillow surveyed. Other big cities where buying was not such a good a deal were Honolulu, at a six-year break-even point, and San Francisco at 5.9 years.


Buy vs. rent in 30 major cities

City	State	Breakeven time in years
New York	N.Y.	5.1
Los Angeles	Calif.	4.3
Chicago	Ill.	2.8
Dallas	Texas	2.1
Philadelphia	Pa.	3.0
Washington	D.C.	3.5
Miami	Fla.	1.6
Atlanta	Ga.	2.5
Boston	Mass.	4.3
San Francisco	Calif.	5.9
Detroit	Mich.	1.7
Riverside	Calif.	2.0
Phoenix	Ariz	1.7
Seattle	Wash.	4.0
Minneapolis	Minn.	2.7
San Diego	Calif.	3.6
Tampa	Fla.	1.6
St. Louis	Mo.	2.5
Baltimore	Md.	2.8
Denver	Colo.	2.5
Pittsburgh	Pa.	2.1
Portland	Ore.	3.5
Sacramento	Calif.	3.1
Orlando	Fla.	1.7
Cincinnati	Ohio	2.1
Cleveland	Ohio	2.4
Las Vegas	Nev.	1.7
San Jose	Calif.	8.3
Columbus	Ohio	2.4
Charlotte	N.C.	2.7

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