Buy-Or-Rent Premium Is Highest Since 2006 Housing Bubble

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A "For Sale" sign outside of a home in Atlanta, Georgia, US, on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023. The National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release existing homes sales figures on February 21. Photographer: Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg

The buy-to-rent premium hasn't been this big since 2006, at the peak of the housing bubble.

With mortgage rates high and home prices still elevated, the monthly payment for a newly purchased home — assuming a 10% down payment and a 30-year fixed rate mortgage — was $1,176 more than renting an apartment at the end 2022, according to an analysis from the National Multifamily Housing Council, a trade group that represents owners of professionally managed rental buildings.

Read more: US Mortgage Rates Fall for Second Week, Sending 30-Year to 6.42%

The cost of homeownership has surged 71% over the past three years, or an average of about 20% per year, compared to average annual rent growth of 6.3% over the same period. As a result, the premium owners pay over renters is now wider than it's been since third quarter of 2006, the report said. 

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Read more: Rent Inflation for Single-Family Homes Drops Near Two-Year Low

US housing costs surged in the pandemic. Buyers struggled to find affordable properties in a frothy housing market marked by bidding wars and cash offers and renters faced higher costs across the US. Now, things have cooled down a bit.

Still, there's limited inventory available and mortgage rates remain high despite slipping slightly in recent weeks. 

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