Phoenix Area Renting Costs Nearly $1,116 Less per Month than Buying, Says Report

inbusinessPHX.com

For many Americans hoping to make the transition to first-time buying in 2023, renting will likely offer relatively more affordable options in the months ahead, according to the Realtor.com® Monthly Rental Report released today. On average across the 50 largest U.S. metros in December, a typical renter faced a 41.4% ($792) lower monthly payment than a starter homeowner. In the Phoenix area, that same renter would experience a 70.1% ($1,116) lower monthly payment.

The markets with the largest monthly savings for renters, ranked by the percent difference between monthly mortgage payments and asking rents, include:

  1. Austin, Texas (121.3% or $2,013)
  2. San Francisco, Calif. (97.0% or $2,855)
  3. Seattle, Wash. (86.1% or $1,772)
  4. San Jose, Calif. (83.0% or $2,621)
  5. San Diego, Calif. (77.2% or $2,085)
  6. Los Angeles, Calif. (74.9% or $2,150)
  7. Boston, Mass. (73.1% or $2,097)
  8. Portland, Ore. (71.2% or $1,246)
  9. Phoenix, Ariz. (70.1% or $1,116)
  10. Sacramento, Calif (67.7% or $1,241)

“Despite the fact that renting will likely be cheaper than buying in 2023, rental affordability will remain a key issue throughout the year. We expect rents will keep hitting new highs, driven by factors including still-low vacancy rates, lagging new construction and demand from would-be first-time buyers,” said Realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “For prospective first-time buyers, the key consideration when figuring out whether to buy or rent is how long you plan to live in your next home. If you’re looking for flexibility to move in the shorter term, renting may be your best bet, and still offer opportunities to save if you’re able to compromise on factors like proximity to the downtown area. Whereas buying could be the better option if you’re planning to stay put for at least five years. Market conditions will play a role, but ultimately the timing comes down to your personal situation, and tools like the Realtor.com® Rent vs. Buy Calculator can help you organize and make sense of the many considerations.”

In December, renters faced lower monthly costs than first-time buyers, on average across the 50 largest U.S. metros and in the vast majority (45) of these markets. Additionally, the gap between the cost of renting and buying a similar-sized home widened significantly compared to December 2021. While this was partly attributed to the slowdown in rent growth seen over the past year, December trends indicate that the increase in relative rental affordability was primarily driven by skyrocketing mortgage rates.

  • In December, the U.S. median rental price, $1,712, was $792 lower than a typical monthly starter home payment. Just 12 months ago, the difference was –$174.
  • The widening gap between rents and first-time buying costs is largely attributed to higher starter homeownership monthly costs ($2,504), which grew 37.4% year-over-year in December – more than 10 times faster than rents (+3.2%) during the same period. Furthermore, despite the slowdown in year-over-year rent growth seen in recent months, typical asking rents ended the year up an average of 11.6% year-over-year.
  • Renting was more affordable than first-time buying in 45 of the 50 largest markets in December, up from 30 markets at the same time last year. In the top 10 metros that favored renting over first-time buying (see table below), monthly starter homeownership costs were an average of 82.2% (+$1,920) higher than rents.
  • Just five markets favored starter homeownership over renting in December, in terms of offering lower monthly costs; these were: Memphis, Tenn. (-32.7%), Pittsburgh (-24.1%), Birmingham, Ala. (-23.5%), St. Louis, Mo. (-6.9%) and Baltimore, Md. (-3.7%).

December & Full-Year 2022 Rental Metrics – National

Unit Size

Dec. 2022
Median Rent

Dec. 2022 Median Rent,
YY Change

Full-Year 2022 Avg. YY
Rent Change

Overall

$1,712

3.2 %

11.6 %

Studio

$1,448

4.7 %

13.2 %

1-bed

$1,589

2.9 %

11.3 %

2-bed

$1,874

2.4 %

10.9 %

December & Full-Year 2022 Rental Metrics – 50 Largest U.S. Metro Areas
Ranked by % difference between rents and monthly starter home payments

Rank

Metro Area

December 2022

Full-
Year
2022
Avg.

Buy-Rent
Difference
(%)

Buy-Rent
Difference
($)

Overall
Median
Rent (0-2
beds)

Overall
Rent

YY

Monthly
Starter
Home
Cost

Monthly
Starter
Home
Cost YY

Overall
Rent YY

1

Austin-Round Rock, Texas

121.3 %

$2,013

$1,659

-0.7 %

$3,672

31.1 %

9.2 %

2

San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, Calif.

97.0 %

$2,855

$2,943

3.4 %

$5,798

34.7 %

9.3 %

3

Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.

86.1 %

$1,772

$2,059

1.2 %

$3,831

57.3 %

11.0 %

4

San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.

83.0 %

$2,621

$3,156

5.9 %

$5,777

39.6 %

13.7 %

5

San Diego-Carlsbad, Calif.

77.2 %

$2,085

$2,702

1.2 %

$4,787

51.3 %

15.7 %

6

Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, Calif.

74.9 %

$2,150

$2,870

2.3 %

$5,020

37.7 %

13.0 %

7

Boston-Cambridge-Newton, Mass.-N.H.

73.1 %

$2,097

$2,868

6.4 %

$4,965

32.8 %

19.8 %

8

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, Ore.-Wash.

71.2 %

$1,246

$1,750

4.7 %

$2,996

34.8 %

9.1 %

9

Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz.

70.1 %

$1,116

$1,592

-3.3 %

$2,708

36.6 %

10.4 %

10

Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, Calif.

67.7 %

$1,241

$1,834

-4.2 %

$3,075

32.9 %

5.2 %

11

Rochester, N.Y.

66.4 %

$887

$1,335

4.5 %

$2,222

41.7 %

8.7 %

12

Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisc.

66.1 %

$1,024

$1,549

6.7 %

$2,573

71.5 %

8.6 %

13

Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, Colo.

63.5 %

$1,207

$1,902

0.8 %

$3,109

27.2 %

9.0 %

14

Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas

62.4 %

$853

$1,368

1.7 %

$2,221

31.7 %

8.7 %

15

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas

57.2 %

$895

$1,564

3.4 %

$2,459

27.1 %

14.1 %

16

Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, Tenn.

57.0 %

$913

$1,602

2.5 %

$2,515

32.0 %

14.3 %

17

New York-Newark-Jersey City, N.Y.-N.J.-Penn.

57.0 %

$1,537

$2,698

12.2 %

$4,235

10.2 %

15.4 %

18

Columbus, Ohio

55.3 %

$684

$1,237

5.4 %

$1,921

34.4 %

9.4 %

19

Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, Nev.

54.6 %

$817

$1,495

-4.5 %

$2,312

34.0 %

11.9 %

20

San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas

53.4 %

$691

$1,294

3.6 %

$1,985

41.1 %

13.7 %

21

New Orleans-Metairie, La.

52.2 %

$739

$1,417

-0.7 %

$2,156

11.7 %

7.7 %

22

Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wisc.

50.8 %

$776

$1,527

2.5 %

$2,303

37.9 %

3.8 %

23

Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-Va.-Md.-W. Va.

50.7 %

$1,066

$2,103

3.7 %

$3,169

35.0 %

9.3 %

24

Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.

45.5 %

$927

$2,037

-6.0 %

$2,964

50.7 %

6.0 %

25

Jacksonville, Fla.

44.4 %

$657

$1,479

1.6 %

$2,136

60.8 %

13.3 %

26

Raleigh, N.C.

42.0 %

$646

$1,537

2.3 %

$2,183

29.6 %

14.0 %

27

Cincinnati, Ohio-Ky.-Ind.

37.4 %

$473

$1,265

7.0 %

$1,738

42.2 %

8.5 %

28

Providence-Warwick, R.I.-Mass.

37.3 %

$771

$2,067

6.7 %

$2,838

39.2 %

17.3 %

29

Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, N.Y.

37.2 %

$442

$1,188

2.3 %

$1,630

25.5 %

6.7 %

30

Richmond, Va.

35.6 %

$487

$1,368

6.2 %

$1,855

38.3 %

12.1 %

31

Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, Ga.

34.0 %

$567

$1,669

-1.7 %

$2,236

35.6 %

14.9 %

32

Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.

32.2 %

$567

$1,760

-4.3 %

$2,327

50.7 %

14.4 %

33

Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, Fla.

31.5 %

$846

$2,682

4.7 %

$3,528

40.3 %

29.9 %

34

Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, Penn.-N.J.-Del.-M.D.

27.4 %

$465

$1,697

0.4 %

$2,162

36.5 %

6.8 %

35

Oklahoma City, Okla.

25.8 %

$245

$950

9.6 %

$1,195

25.8 %

11.2 %

36

Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Conn.

24.3 %

$421

$1,730

7.5 %

$2,151

37.8 %

10.2 %

37

Louisville/Jefferson County, Ky.-Ind.

22.8 %

$250

$1,097

4.3 %

$1,347

46.9 %

10.4 %

38

Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, N.C.-S.C.

21.5 %

$343

$1,592

2.3 %

$1,935

45.9 %

12.9 %

39

Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Ill.-Ind.-Wisc.

18.2 %

$359

$1,968

17.5 %

$2,327

33.7 %

16.5 %

40

Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, Va.-N.C.

15.2 %

$218

$1,432

2.4 %

$1,650

49.6 %

9.0 %

41

Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Mich.

13.5 %

$166

$1,227

5.8 %

$1,393

30.4 %

6.7 %

42

Cleveland-Elyria, Ohio

13.1 %

$151

$1,152

5.0 %

$1,303

32.8 %

8.2 %

43

Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Fla.

11.7 %

$212

$1,812

4.0 %

$2,024

53.8 %

20.5 %

44

Kansas City, Mo.-Kan.

10.9 %

$140

$1,288

8.0 %

$1,428

39.2 %

10.5 %

45

Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, Ind.

9.9 %

$125

$1,269

9.4 %

$1,394

44.0 %

10.2 %

46

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, Md.

-3.7 %

-$65

$1,749

2.6 %

$1,684

25.4 %

8.4 %

47

St. Louis, Mo.-Ill.

-6.9 %

-$83

$1,211

2.7 %

$1,128

34.1 %

7.1 %

48

Birmingham-Hoover, Ala.

-23.5 %

-$270

$1,149

3.6 %

$879

19.1 %

7.8 %

49

Pittsburgh, Penn.

-24.1 %

-$348

$1,445

4.5 %

$1,097

21.2 %

7.2 %

50

Memphis, Tenn.-Miss.-Ark.

-32.7 %

-$411

$1,258

0.3 %

$847

58.3 %

12.4 %

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