Realtor.com February Rental Report: Renting Now Beats Buying in All of the Largest U.S. Metros

Staff Report From Georgia CEO

Tuesday, April 2nd, 2024

Elevated mortgage interest rates, still-high home prices and falling rents have made it more affordable to rent than buy in all of the top 50 U.S. metros, according to the Realtor.com® Rental Report released today. In February, the mortgage payment on a starter home in the largest metros cost $1,027 (+60.1%) more than the monthly rent in those markets, on average. At the same time last year, 45 metros favored renting.

The top 10 metros with the largest rent versus buy savings (see below for top 50 metros):
1.    Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown, Texas$2,165 monthly rent savings (141.5% difference)
2.    Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.$2,422 (121.1%)
3.    Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, Ariz.$1,528 (99.0%)
4.    San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, Calif.$2,689 (95.5%)
5.    Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif.$2,539 (89.7%)
6.    San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.$2,780 (86.7%)
7.    Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, Tenn.$1,366 (86.0%)
8.    Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore. Wash. – $1,396 (84.4%)
9.    Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, Calif.  –  $1,514 (82.1%)
10.  Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas$1,103 (80.0%)

"With rents continuing to fall and the cost of buying a home remaining high, exacerbated by the rise in mortgage rates in the later half of 2023, renting a home is now a more cost-effective option in all major U.S. markets," said Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at Realtor.com®. "Deciding whether to rent or buy often goes beyond a financial advantage though, and likely depends on a consumer's circumstances. Renters often prize flexibility while the biggest reasons homebuyers cite are that they want a place of their own and to be closer to family and friends. The financial scales have tipped monthly costs in favor of renting over buying, but it does not bring the benefit of housing wealth gains over time that owning does and movers should consider their long-term housing plans and personal situation as they make this decision."

The overall advantage of renting continues to grow in most markets
In February, the cost of buying a starter home in the top 50 metros was $1,027 (60.1%) higher than renting one; comparatively, the cost to buy was $865 higher than renting in February 2023 – a $162 higher monthly savings from renting compared to the prior year. The savings are mostly driven by declining rent prices and higher buying costs, especially interest rates – the 30-year fixed mortgage rate remained elevated at 6.78% in February 2024compared to 6.26% 12 months ago. 

The advantages of renting have become more pronounced across the top metros. Looking specifically at the top 10 metros that favor renting over buying, the average monthly costs for buying a starter home were $1,950 (95.6%) higher than rents – nearly double the cost. Those metros are mostly markets with a higher concentration of tech workers and high earners, where both the average rent and buy costs are higher than the national average.

Renting beats buying in all major metros, especially in south and west; five metros flip from last year
In February, median rents fell across all unit sizes. Despite seven months of annual rent declines, median rents are still $252 (17.3%) higher than the same time in 2020, before the onset of the pandemic. Last February, 45 metros favored renting, but over the past 12 months Memphis, Tenn, Birmingham, Ala., Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Baltimore metros flipped from favoring buying to favoring renting. Four out of five of those markets were among the top markets seeing a high share of investor activity, which may have accelerated the growth of home prices there and increased the overall costs of buying a home, tilting those markets further toward favoring renting over buying.

Austin, Texas, where the monthly cost of buying a starter home was $3,695 – 141.5% more than the monthly rent of $1,530, for a monthly savings of $2,165 – topped the list of markets most favoring renting. Other top markets favoring renting over buying were Seattle, Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Metros with diminishing rental advantages were San Jose, Calif.; Dallas; San Francisco; Columbus, Ohio; Miami; and Minneapolis.

Realtor.com®'s rent versus buy calculator can help consumers determine if the cost of homeownership is a better deal than renting based on their location and budget.

National Rental Data – February 2024

Unit Size

Median Rent

Rent YoY

Rent Change - February 2020

Overall

$1,708

-0.4 %

17.3 %

Studio

$1,426

-1.5 %

10.4 %

1-bed

$1,587

-0.4 %

16.8 %

2-bed

$1,889

-0.8 %

19.3 %

Markets ranked by % of saving from buying vs renting a starter home – February 2024

 Metro

Median Rent

Monthly Buy Cost

$ Difference (Buy-Rent)

% Difference (Buy-Rent)

Rent Cost: YoY

Buy Cost: YoY

Austin-Round Rock, TX

$1,530

$3,695

$2,165

141.5 %

-4.4 %

-1.6 %

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

$2,000

$4,422

$2,422

121.1 %

0.4 %

5.6 %

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale,  AZ

$1,543

$3,071

$1,528

99.0 %

-3.8 %

13.9 %

San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA

$2,815

$5,504

$2,689

95.5 %

-1.5 %

-1.3 %

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA

$2,830

$5,369

$2,539

89.7 %

0.7 %

10.7 %

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

$3,206

$5,986

$2,780

86.7 %

2.1 %

-0.8 %

Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro- Franklin, TN

$1,589

$2,955

$1,366

86.0 %

-4.1 %

15.8 %

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA

$1,655

$3,051

$1,396

84.4 %

-0.9 %

-0.1 %

Sacramento–Roseville–Arden- Arcade,  CA

$1,845

$3,359

$1,514

82.1 %

1.1 %

2.3 %

Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX

$1,379

$2,482

$1,103

80.0 %

1.2 %

2.6 %

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX

$1,491

$2,674

$1,183

79.3 %

-2.1 %

-2.8 %

Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH

$2,985

$5,289

$2,304

77.2 %

3.1 %

5.7 %

Columbus, OH

$1,181

$2,083

$902

76.4 %

-1.9 %

-2.2 %

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

$2,852

$4,995

$2,143

75.1 %

5.4 %

9.8 %

Richmond, VA

$1,491

$2,598

$1,107

74.2 %

-0.4 %

36.2 %

San Diego-Carlsbad, CA

$2,822

$4,848

$2,026

71.8 %

2.5 %

3.6 %

Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO

$1,911

$3,223

$1,312

68.7 %

-0.5 %

0.2 %

Raleigh, NC

$1,507

$2,506

$999

66.3 %

-3.0 %

15.2 %

Minneapolis-St  Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI

$1,481

$2,429

$948

64.0 %

-1.5 %

-1.0 %

Jacksonville, FL

$1,518

$2,417

$899

59.2 %

-2.6 %

7.7 %

San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX

$1,264

$2,012

$748

59.2 %

-0.4 %

-0.2 %

Oklahoma City, OK

$982

$1,528

$546

55.6 %

1.3 %

8.2 %

Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV

$1,488

$2,299

$811

54.5 %

-1.8 %

3.2 %

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA

$1,613

$2,453

$840

52.1 %

-4.1 %

5.3 %

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria,DC-VA-MD-WV

$2,200

$3,330

$1,130

51.4 %

1.6 %

1.8 %

Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN

$1,320

$1,995

$675

51.1 %

1.0 %

7.7 %

Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI

$1,561

$2,324

$763

48.9 %

-1.8 %

2.4 %

Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL

$1,732

$2,572

$840

48.5 %

-1.4 %

3.7 %

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA

$2,189

$3,236

$1,047

47.8 %

-0.3 %

5.8 %

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI

$1,825

$2,594

$769

42.1 %

3.7 %

9.9 %

Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC

$1,529

$2,142

$613

40.1 %

-1.1 %

8.6 %

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West  Palm Beach, FL

$2,373

$3,296

$923

38.9 %

-3.4 %

-2.9 %

Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN

$1,297

$1,752

$455

35.1 %

3.6 %

14.7 %

Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN

$1,218

$1,606

$388

31.9 %

0.8 %

19.9 %

Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL

$1,675

$2,190

$515

30.7 %

-2.7 %

1.3 %

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD

$1,786

$2,324

$538

30.1 %

-0.8 %

5.4 %

Virginia  Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC

$1,501

$1,864

$363

24.2 %

-1.0 %

12.6 %

Kansas City, MO-KS

$1,319

$1,553

$234

17.7 %

2.7 %

3.1 %

Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI

$1,302

$1,528

$226

17.4 %

-0.4 %

8.4 %

Cleveland-Elyria, OH

$1,249

$1,436

$187

15.0 %

-1.5 %

5.7 %

Birmingham-Hoover, AL

$1,241

$1,415

$174

14.0 %

-1.8 %

30.1 %

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD

$1,783

$1,974

$191

10.7 %

-1.6 %

10.0 %

St. Louis, MO-IL

$1,300

$1,400

$100

7.7 %

-3.9 %

8.3 %

Memphis, TN-MS-AR

$1,251

$1,279

$28

2.2 %

-5.0 %

34.8 %

Pittsburgh, PA

$1,425

$1,444

$19

1.3 %

1.8 %

16.5 %

* Buffalo, N.Y.; Hartford, Conn.; New Orleans; Providence, R.I.; and Rochester, N.Y. area metrics have been excluded while data is under review