Austin is the major U.S. metro where it's most affordable to rent rather than buy a home, according to a Realtor.com report released Tuesday.
To be fair, due to an increase in mortgage interest rates, high home prices, and decreasing rent, all of the 50 most populated metros in the nation made the list — but that's five more than were on it last year. "Renting a home is now a more cost-effective option in all major U.S. markets," said Realtor.com's Danielle Hale.
In February, the cost of buying a starter home in the top 50 metros was $1,027 (60.1 percent) higher than renting one – $162 per month year-over-year increase in savings.
The same month, the U.S. median rent also continued to decline year-over-year but rent was just $50 (-2.8 percent) less than at the peak seen in August 2022. and was still $252 (17.3 percent) higher than it was during the same time in 2020.
In the Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown metro area, the monthly cost of buying a starter home was $3,695 on average — 141.5 percent ($2,165) more than the monthly rent of $1,530. Monthly rent declined 4.4 percent year-over-year to , while the cost of buying a starter home decreased 1.6 percent since the same period last year.
The Seattle, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles metros, in descending order, follow Austin on the list. Metros with diminishing rental advantages include San Jose, California; Dallas; San Francisco; Columbus, Ohio; Miami; and Minneapolis.
