Real estate search and marketing company, Trulia says that trends show that its better to buy a house vs. renting in 72 percent of the 50 largest cities in the United States.

photo credit: TheTruthAbout

"Since the start of the 'Great Recession,' many former homeowners have flooded the rental market. Following the principles of supply and demand, renting has become more expensive than buying in most markets," said Pete Flint, CEO and co-founder of Trulia.

In an Inman News article listing the top 10 cities to buy vs. rent, it stated that in 36 out of 50 cities, it is less expensive to buy a 2 bedroom home than to rent one. The statistics compared the median list price with the median rent as of Jan. 10, 2011.

"A price-to-rent ratio of 1 to 15 means that it's much cheaper to buy than to rent in a particular city. A ratio between 16 and 20 means that it's more expensive to rent than to buy, but, depending on the family's situation, buying could "make financial sense," the site said. Any ratio above 20 indicates that owning is much more costly than renting in a city." stated the article, which also lists the top 10 cities where it's cheaper to rent.

Denvers rent:buy ratio comes in at 13 and Colorado Springs weighs in at 15, meaning that in Colorado Springs it's cheaper to rent but makes more sense to buy in todays market. See the full Rent:Buy Ratio charts on Trulia.

"Lifelong renters are seizing the opportunity to become homeowners while affordability is high. At the same time, a growing number of longtime homeowners are finding themselves tenants -- some by choice and others by necessity." Said Tara-Nicholle Nelson, consumer educator for Trulia.

Read the full story at Inman News.

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Posted on January 26, 2011 02:00:10 by Blog Author