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

With real estate prices still elevated and borrowing costs high, paying the monthly mortgage outpaces rent more than it has since before the financial crisis.

A "For Sale" sign outside of a home in Atlanta, Georgia.

Photographer: Dustin Chambers/Bloomberg
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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.