10 housing markets where it’s cheaper to buy than rent in 2022

Climbing rents are making the ultra-competitive housing market more palatable.

Rents escalated for the eighth straight month in January and are up 19.8% from the same time last year, according to a recent Realtor.com report. The rise is most pronounced in tech hubs like Austin, where rents shot up 31% in the past year, but they also remain elevated in major regions like New York City, Los Angeles and the Bay Area.

The nation’s housing market continue to see record pricing, a shortage of supply and rising mortgage rates. Rent growth, however, has created a situation where buying a home is more affordable than renting in 26 of the nation’s 50 largest metros, according to Realtor.com.

Prices have been driven up in part by investors, who bought a greater share of single-family homes on the market in a bid to capture the sky-high rents, said Ben Chenault, a certified mortgage planner and area manager for Mortgage Banc, a branch of Fairway Independent Mortgage Corp. in Birmingham, Alabama. Chenault’s hometown has the best buying-to-renting value and the lowest buying cost among the top-10 metros, per the Realtor.com analysis.

“When you think about the cost of homeownership, it’s much smarter to go ahead and buy now,” Chenault, a 25-year veteran of the mortgage industry, said.

The Realtor.com analysis used its own rental data for studios, one-and two-bedroom units in the nation’s 50 largest metros, and calculated monthly buying cost by averaging median listing prices while assuming a 7% down payment, a mortgage rate of 3.45% and taxes, insurance and HOA fees. Of the 26 markets where buying is cheaper than renting, the monthly cost of a starter home was on average $323 lower than the typical rental payment in January.

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Downtown Louisville, Kentucky.

Louisville, Kentucky

Realtor.com January 2022 median home sold price: $350K
Buy cost per month: $916 (up 8.5% y/y)
Median rent per month: $1,200 (up 17.1% y/y)
Percentage difference between buying versus renting: -23.7%
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Tampa, Florida.
Jon Perry/Jonathan Perry - Fotolia

Tampa, Florida

Realtor.com January 2022 median home sold price: $350K
Buy cost per month: $1,543 (up 27.3% y/y)
Median rent per month: $2,070 (up 37.5% y/y)
Percentage difference between buying versus renting: -25.5%
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Orlando, Florida towards Lake Eola.
SeanPavonePhoto - stock.adobe.com

Orlando, Florida

Realtor.com January 2022 median home sold price: $329K
Buy cost per month: $1,327 (up 21.8% y/y)
Median rent per month: $1,820 (up 34.8% y/y)
Percentage difference between buying versus renting: -27.1%
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Buildings at Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Christian Hinkle - stock.adobe.com

Virginia Beach, Virginia

Realtor.com January 2022 median home sold price: $238K
Buy cost per month: $1.091 (up 14.6% y/y)
Median rent per month: $1,500 (up 16.7% y/y)
Percentage difference between buying versus renting: -27.2%
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Baltimore, Maryland.
Frédéric GALISSON - stock.adobe.com

Baltimore, Maryland

Realtor.com January 2022 median home sold price: $225K
Buy cost per month: $1,242 (up 5.2% y/y)
Median rent per month: $1,773 (up 14.4% y/y)
Percentage difference between buying versus renting: -30%
Detroit
Detroit, Michigan.
f11photo - stock.adobe.com

Detroit, Michigan

Realtor.com January 2022 median home sold price: $$83.5K
Buy cost per month: $901 (down 10.1% y/y)
Median rent per month: $1,350 (up 10.1% y/y)
Percentage difference between buying versus renting: -33.3%
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St. Louis, Missouri.
SNEHIT - stock.adobe.com

St. Louis, Missouri

January 2022 median home sold price (according to Zillow*): $166K
Buy cost per month: $812 (up 16.2% y/y)
Median rent per month: $1,295 (up 19.5% y/y)
Percentage difference between buying versus renting: -37.3%

*Realtor.com did not have exact data for the St. Louis market
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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
kanonsky - stock.adobe.com

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Realtor.com January 2022 median home sold price: $225K
Buy cost per month: $945 (up 3.2% y/y)
Median rent per month: $1,530 (up 18.6% y/y)
Percentage difference between buying versus renting: -38.3%
Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio.
wilgory - stock.adobe.com

Cleveland, Ohio

Realtor.com January 2022 median home sold price: $120K
Buy cost per month: $809 (13.5% increase y/y)
Median rent per month: $1,325 (9.1% increase y/y)
Percentage difference between buying versus renting: -38.9%
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Downtown Birmingham, Alabama, from Vulcan Park.
Rob Hainer/Robert Hainer - stock.adobe.com

Birmingham, Alabama

Realtor.com January 2022 median home sold price: $180K
Buy cost per month: $668 (-5.9% decrease y/y)
Median rent per month: $1,201 (18.6% increase y/y)
Percentage difference between buying versus renting: -44.3%
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