By Karen Schutte | Real Estate Daily News
PHOENIX/TUCSON, AZ (December 11, 2025) — New research shows it is now significantly cheaper to rent a home in the Phoenix metro than to purchase one — marking a dramatic reversal from just four years ago to a renter market.
A study by Virginia-based InvestorsObserver found that Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler now ranks No. 34 out of 39 major U.S. metros that flipped from favoring buyers in 2021 to favoring renters in 2025. The shift mirrors a broad national trend, but the Valley’s change has been particularly sharp.
In 2021, the Phoenix metro posted a buy-rent gap of –7%, meaning average mortgage payments were lower than average rents. By 2025, that gap had widened to +59.3%, far above the national average of +53%. The positive gap indicates that monthly mortgage payments now exceed typical rents by a wide margin.
