ఇప్పుడు ఇల్లు కొనడం బొక్క అంటున్న CBSNews

[andhra_jp]

A new analysis from real estate firm CBRE is providing some clarity on that question. What it reveals may dishearten house hunters: The cost to buy a home, compared with the cost of renting one, is now the most expensive on record — a price gulf that even surpasses the gap seen during the housing bubble in 2006. 

It now costs 52% more to buy a home compared with renting an apartment, according to CBRE data emailed to CBS MoneyWatch, which analyzed the monthly cost of a new home purchase versus a new lease from 1996 through the third quarter of 2023. By comparison, at the peak of the housing bubble in 2006, it was 33% more expensive to buy versus to rent — a gap that quickly reversed when housing prices plunged during the Great Recession.

On a dollar basis, that means new homeowners today face monthly costs of $3,322, versus $2,184 for people who sign new leases. 

"Why would the premium be so big today? It's really just a math equation, but the situation is so different from what it was in 2006, when it last peaked," noted Matt Vance, senior director and Americas head of multifamily research for CBRE. "We have a supply shortage of for-sale homes ... and then we saw the Fed start to raise rates, so really it's the mortgage rates that are contributing a tremendous amount to that premium today."

"Is it cheaper to rent? I would say in the near term, it is," he added.