It's Now Cheaper to Rent Than Buy in Every State

To rent or to buy? That’s the question many prospective buyers and renters face, and the answer usually comes down to finances. The answer today is simple: renting is cheaper than buying in nearly every state. With short housing supply and increasing home prices, renters have found relief in lowered rents in urban areas, sweetening the decision even further, says the New York Times. A new LendingTree survey found median housing costs were lower for renters in every large U.S. metro. The differences were most dramatic in costly cities such as New York, San Francisco, and San Jose.

A recent study by LendingTree found that median housing costs were lower for renters than for homeowners with a mortgage in all 50 of the largest U.S. metro areas. The greatest difference between the median rent and the median cost of owning a home with a mortgage was in New York City, at $1,363 a month. San Francisco and San Jose, Calif., were next, with the gap between renting and owning exceeding $1,000.

To reach its conclusions, LendingTree compared median rents and mortgaged housing costs using data from the Census Bureau. This week’s chart shows the 10 metro areas with the largest and the smallest differences in housing costs for renters and owners.

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