Should you buy or should you rent? The old advice that the best time to buy a home is the best time for you still holds true — but where you’re buying plays an important role, too.
Real estate site Zumper analyzed the cost of owning a home and the cost of renting across 83 of the largest US cities and calculated a price-to-rent ratio to determine where the housing market favors buyers versus renters.
Not surprisingly, cities where the housing market is constantly in the news for being unaffordable, like San Francisco, make more sense to rent in. However, Zumper market expert Crystal Chen said rents sometimes outpace mortgages in expensive cities like New York City.
“Expensive and buy-favorable aren’t necessarily the same thing,” Chen told Business Insider. “Even though New York has a high sticker price for homes, it’s still more relatively buy-favorable. The rents are just so much higher.”
Some cities have become unaffordable for buyers due to recent migration trends. Boise, Idaho, which became a refuge for movers escaping coastal cities during the pandemic, has a widening gap between the price of renting and buying.
“The home prices got really high because it was a pandemic hotspot,” Chen said. “A lot of people moved there to buy and that drove the prices up. Renting is significantly cheaper there.”
If you’re in a position to buy a home, and maybe feeling pressure to do so, see if that’s the right call in your city — or move somewhere where it is.
Below, 10 cities where it’s better to buy a home, and 10 cities where it’s better to rent, according to Zumper.
Cities where it’s better to rent
10. Boise, ID
Price-to-rent ratio: 27.816
NAR median house price: $484,000
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $2,868
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $1,450
9. San Francisco, CA
Price-to-rent ratio: 28.655
NAR median house price: $1,350,000
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $7,758
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $3,926
8. Reno, NV
Price-to-rent ratio: 28.958
NAR median house price: $602,900
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $3,397
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $1,735
7. San Diego, CA
Price-to-rent ratio: 31.05
NAR median house price: $1,050,000
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $6,026
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $2,818
6. Portland, OR
Price-to-rent ratio: 32.415
NAR median house price: $585,800
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $3,583
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $1,506
5. Seattle, WA
Price-to-rent ratio: 32.649
NAR median house price: $772,600
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $4,547
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $1,972
4. Salt Lake City, UT
Price-to-rent ratio: 34.863
NAR median house price: $576,500
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $3,306
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $1,378
3. Urban Honolulu, HI
Price-to-rent ratio: 36.717
NAR median house price: $1,175,100
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $6,300
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $2,667
2. Anaheim, CA
Price-to-rent ratio: 47.829
NAR median house price: $1,442,900
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $8,216
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $2,514
1. San Jose, CA
Price-to-rent ratio: 55.049
NAR median house price: $2,030,000
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $11,666
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $3,073
Cities where it’s better to buy
10. Buffalo, NY
Price-to-rent ratio: 15.631
NAR median house price: $262,600
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $1,686
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $1,400
9. El Paso, TX
Price-to-rent ratio: 14.912
NAR median house price: $272,000
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $2,246
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $1,520
8. Virginia Beach, VA
Price-to-rent ratio: 14.898
NAR median house price: $362,200
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $2,260
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $2,026
7. New Orleans, LA
Price-to-rent ratio: 14.838
NAR median house price: $293,800
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $1,854
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $1,650
6. Rochester, NY
Price-to-rent ratio: 14.836
NAR median house price: $252,800
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $1,896
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $1,420
5. Charleston, SC
Price-to-rent ratio: 14.787
NAR median house price: $459,500
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $2,754
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $2,590
4. Chicago, IL
Price-to-rent ratio: 14.549
NAR median house price: $384,100
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $2,726
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $2,200
3. New York, NY
Price-to-rent ratio: 14.205
NAR median house price: $750,000
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $4,594
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $4,400
2. Pittsburgh, PA
Price-to-rent ratio: 13.033
NAR median house price: $234,600
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $1,501
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $1,500
1. Syracuse, NY
Price-to-rent ratio: 12.611
NAR median house price: $249,700
Monthly homeowner cost (PITI): $1,887
Zumper monthly all-bed rent: $1,650
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