Average U.S. median asking rents reached
$1,703, declining a moderate 0.2%
year over year
AUSTIN,
Texas, Feb. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Most
metros have become more affordable for both buyers and renters in
the past year; however, renting a median-priced unit is still more
affordable for median wage earners than buying the median priced
for-sale listing in all major U.S. metros except Detroit and Pittsburgh, according to
the Realtor.com® January Rent Report. Last January
there were six markets where buying was less expensive than
renting, which shows the impact of the consistent retreat of rental
prices and the persistence of high mortgage rates. Over the past
year, the market as a whole has moved in a more renter-friendly
direction.
"For most Americans owning a home is still a big part of the
American Dream, yet the lower monthly costs of renting in all but 2
of the 50 largest markets are a key consideration," said
Danielle Hale, chief economist,
Realtor.com®. "This relative cost advantage is one of
the reasons we expect an increase in renter households and declines
in the homeownership rate in 2025."
Why is it More Affordable to Buy in Detroit and Pittsburgh?
Pittsburgh and Detroit are the two metros with the lowest
median listing prices of our top 50 metros, with Pittsburgh at $229,700 and Detroit at $239,950. These Rust Belt metros are often among
our most affordable ones when it comes to buying a home, and with
the share of income used on rent increasing year over year in
Detroit and remaining nearly flat
in Pittsburgh, buying a home has
actually become more economical than renting one.
Is Renting Finally as Affordable as Before the
Pandemic?
Even though rents are falling, renters are
still feeling the pinch from the rapid rent growth of 2021 and
2022. While January 2025's rent figure is lower than both
January 2024 and January 2023's, it
still exceeds January 2020 by
$257 (16.1%).
Buy or Rent Favoring… Which Markets Fall Where?
While
renting remains more affordable than buying across most metros,
this report looks at the relationship among wage growth, mortgage
rates, median rent and media listing price to see which metros are
rent-favoring and which metros are buy- favoring.
Three metros–New York; San Jose,
Calif.; and Detroit–are the only metros where the share of
income used on both rent and buying a home are growing. In these
metros it takes more income to both rent the median priced rental
unit and buy a median priced home, becoming both less renter and
less buyer-favoring.
One metro, Kansas City, Kan.,
is becoming more buyer-favoring. In Kansas City, a higher share of income is spent
on rents and a lower share of income on buying. There are 18 metros
that have become rent-favoring and where more of the median
earner's income is needed to buy a home than a year ago.
Metros Becoming More Renter-Friendly and Less
Buyer-Friendly
|
Metro
|
Percent of Income
Spent on
Buying (change YoY)
|
Percent of Income
Spent
on Rent (change YoY)
|
|
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
|
2.2 %
|
-0.4 %
|
|
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
|
1.0 %
|
-0.2 %
|
|
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
|
1.4 %
|
-1.4 %
|
|
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
|
0.2 %
|
-1.4 %
|
|
Houston-Pasadena-The
Woodlands,
TX
|
0.2 %
|
-1.3 %
|
|
Las
Vegas-Henderson-North Las
Vegas, NV
|
0.5 %
|
-1.9 %
|
|
Los Angeles-Long
Beach-Anaheim, CA
|
1.2 %
|
-1.8 %
|
|
Memphis,
TN-MS-AR
|
0.4 %
|
-2.4 %
|
|
Milwaukee-Waukesha,
WI
|
3.0 %
|
-0.1 %
|
|
Minneapolis-St.
Paul-Bloomington, MN-
WI
|
0.6 %
|
-0.4 %
|
|
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-
NJ-DE-MD
|
1.4 %
|
-0.9 %
|
|
Pittsburgh,
PA
|
0.6 %
|
-0.3 %
|
|
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
|
0.3 %
|
-0.7 %
|
|
Riverside-San
Bernardino-Ontario, CA
|
1.8 %
|
-2.1 %
|
|
Virginia
Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk,
VA-NC
|
1.9 %
|
-0.4 %
|
National Rental Data – January
2025
|
Unit
Size
|
Median
Rent
|
Rent
YoY
|
Rent Change - 5
Years
|
|
Overall
|
$1,703
|
-0.2 %
|
16.1 %
|
|
Studio
|
$1,423
|
0.0 %
|
11.4 %
|
|
1-Bedroom
|
$1,585
|
-0.1 %
|
16.0 %
|
|
2-Bedroom
|
$1,887
|
-0.2 %
|
20.0 %
|
50 Largest Metropolitan Areas – January 2025
|
Metro
|
Median Rent
(0-2
Bedrooms)
|
YoY Change
(0-2
Bedrooms)
|
Share of
Income
Spent on
Rent
|
Share of
Income
Spent on
Buying
|
|
Atlanta-Sandy
Springs-Roswell, GA
|
$1,565
|
-2.9 %
|
21.4 %
|
28.4 %
|
|
Austin-Round Rock-San
Marcos, TX
|
$1,467
|
-4.8 %
|
17.2 %
|
30.3 %
|
|
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
|
$1,786
|
0.1 %
|
22.5 %
|
23.1 %
|
|
Birmingham,
AL
|
$1,201
|
-2.9 %
|
20.1 %
|
24.9 %
|
|
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
|
$2,925
|
0.5 %
|
32.1 %
|
45.8 %
|
|
Buffalo-Cheektowaga,
NY
|
NA
|
NA
|
NA
|
NA
|
|
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
|
$1,520
|
-1.2 %
|
22.4 %
|
32.3 %
|
|
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
|
$1,776
|
-3.6 %
|
24.6 %
|
24.8 %
|
|
Cincinnati,
OH-KY-IN
|
$1,326
|
-0.7 %
|
19.9 %
|
25.0 %
|
|
Columbus, OH
|
$1,184
|
0.7 %
|
17.7 %
|
26.5 %
|
|
Dallas-Fort
Worth-Arlington, TX
|
$1,445
|
-3.5 %
|
19.5 %
|
29.3 %
|
|
Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
|
$1,796
|
-5.6 %
|
20.2 %
|
33.4 %
|
|
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI
|
$1,313
|
1.3 %
|
21.7 %
|
20.7 %
|
|
Hartford-West
Hartford-East Hartford, CT
|
NA
|
NA
|
NA
|
NA
|
|
Houston-Pasadena-The
Woodlands, TX
|
$1,359
|
-1.8 %
|
20.7 %
|
28.5 %
|
|
Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN
|
$1,280
|
-1.7 %
|
19.3 %
|
23.6 %
|
|
Jacksonville,
FL
|
$1,510
|
-1.0 %
|
22.1 %
|
29.4 %
|
|
Kansas City,
MO-KS
|
$1,352
|
4.2 %
|
20.3 %
|
29.3 %
|
|
Las
Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas,
NV
|
$1,457
|
-2.2 %
|
24.1 %
|
40.4 %
|
|
Los Angeles-Long
Beach-Anaheim, CA
|
$2,736
|
-2.6 %
|
35.9 %
|
74.7 %
|
|
Louisville/Jefferson
County, KY-IN
|
$1,244
|
0.5 %
|
20.6 %
|
26.4 %
|
|
Memphis,
TN-MS-AR
|
$1,177
|
-4.3 %
|
21.1 %
|
30.8 %
|
|
Miami-Fort
Lauderdale-West Palm Beach,
FL
|
$2,328
|
-1.9 %
|
37.6 %
|
43.9 %
|
|
Milwaukee-Waukesha,
WI
|
$1,611
|
-0.2 %
|
26.1 %
|
30.6 %
|
|
Minneapolis-St.
Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
|
$1,507
|
0.2 %
|
18.7 %
|
27.5 %
|
|
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--
Franklin, TN
|
$1,539
|
-2.5 %
|
21.7 %
|
38.6 %
|
|
New Orleans-Metairie,
LA
|
NA
|
NA
|
NA
|
NA
|
|
New York-Newark-Jersey
City, NY-NJ
|
$2,973
|
5.8 %
|
37.6 %
|
49.5 %
|
|
Oklahoma City,
OK
|
$1,021
|
1.5 %
|
17.1 %
|
27.4 %
|
|
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
|
$1,676
|
0.0 %
|
26.8 %
|
35.1 %
|
|
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-
DE-MD
|
$1,754
|
-0.5 %
|
23.8 %
|
24.9 %
|
|
Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler,
AZ
|
$1,488
|
-3.5 %
|
20.4 %
|
36.6 %
|
|
Pittsburgh,
PA
|
$1,431
|
0.2 %
|
23.5 %
|
19.7 %
|
|
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
|
$1,665
|
-0.3 %
|
21.1 %
|
39.6 %
|
|
Providence-Warwick,
RI-MA
|
NA
|
NA
|
NA
|
NA
|
|
Raleigh-Cary,
NC
|
$1,486
|
-2.3 %
|
18.2 %
|
28.1 %
|
|
Richmond, VA
|
$1,481
|
-0.3 %
|
20.3 %
|
30.2 %
|
|
Riverside-San
Bernardino-Ontario, CA
|
$2,065
|
-4.1 %
|
28.8 %
|
43.6 %
|
|
Rochester,
NY
|
NA
|
NA
|
NA
|
NA
|
|
Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA
|
$1,885
|
1.0 %
|
24.2 %
|
41.1 %
|
|
San Antonio-New
Braunfels, TX
|
$1,238
|
-2.1 %
|
20.3 %
|
27.8 %
|
|
San Diego-Chula
Vista-Carlsbad, CA
|
$2,695
|
-4.8 %
|
31.4 %
|
57.7 %
|
|
San
Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
|
$2,708
|
-3.3 %
|
24.3 %
|
41.4 %
|
|
San
Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
|
$3,287
|
2.4 %
|
25.2 %
|
50.7 %
|
|
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
|
$1,969
|
-0.2 %
|
20.8 %
|
40.1 %
|
|
St. Louis,
MO-IL
|
$1,316
|
1.4 %
|
19.8 %
|
21.6 %
|
|
Tampa-St.
Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
|
$1,710
|
-1.6 %
|
28.1 %
|
34.0 %
|
|
Virginia
Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC
|
$1,494
|
-0.8 %
|
22.3 %
|
30.4 %
|
|
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-
MD-WV
|
$2,247
|
2.3 %
|
21.9 %
|
29.3 %
|
Methodology
Rental data as of January 2025 for studio, 1-bedroom, or 2-bedroom
units advertised as for-rent on Realtor.com. Rental units include
apartments as well as private rentals (condos, townhomes,
single-family homes). We use rental sources that reliably report
data each month within the 50 largest metropolitan areas.
Realtor.com began publishing regular monthly rental trends reports
in October 2020 with data history
stretching back to March 2019.
Metro-level income is sourced from Claritas and median listing
price data comes from Realtor.com listing data. Year over year
affordability data has been recalculated with updated cost and
income figures and is not directly comparable to previous
iterations of rent-vs-buy analysis.
About
Realtor.com®
Realtor.com® is an
open real estate marketplace built for everyone.
Realtor.com® pioneered the world of digital real
estate more than 25 years ago. Today, through its website and
mobile apps, Realtor.com® is a trusted guide for
consumers, empowering more people to find their way home by
breaking down barriers, helping them make the right connections,
and creating confidence through expert insights and guidance. For
professionals, Realtor.com® is a trusted partner
for business growth, offering consumer connections and branding
solutions that help them succeed in today's on-demand world.
Realtor.com® is operated by News Corp [Nasdaq:
NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc. For more
information, visit Realtor.com®.
Media Contact: Mallory Micetich,
press@realtor.com
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content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/renting-is-still-more-affordable-than-buying-in-all-but-two-major-us-metros-302378386.html
SOURCE Realtor.com
