Better to rent or buy? that is the question...

Key Takeaways

• Buying a home is actually more affordable than renting in more than half, or 58 percent, of the country’s markets.
• Rents are outpacing weekly wage growth in 57 percent of markets, and home price appreciation is outpacing rent growth in 55 percent of markets.

With rents continuing to outpace wages and home prices rising even faster than rents, “renters in 2016 will be caught between a bit of a rock and a hard place,” said RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist in discussing the company’s 2016 Rental Affordability Analysis.

According to the report released today, buying a home is actually more affordable than renting in more than half, or 58 percent, of the country’s markets. Rents are outpacing weekly wage growth in 57 percent of markets, and home price appreciation is outpacing rent growth in 55 percent of markets.

Average weekly wages in the second quarter of this year were up 2.6 percent from the same period last year, while median home prices in the third quarter increased 5 percent compared to last year.

Written by Amy Swinderman @ Inman