By Lisa Prevost | The New York Times
The upward trajectory of rents in many metropolitan areas, which shows no sign of abating, often makes homeownership the better deal. But renters still aren’t rushing to buy.
Real estate listing and lender websites are awash in charts and mortgage calculators aimed at persuading renters that they can cut their monthly costs by buying a home. The problem is, “increasing rents have a very paradoxical effect on the housing market,” said Ralph McLaughlin, a housing economist at Trulia, the real estate information site. “Rising rents make it a relatively better deal to buy, but it also makes it more difficult for households to save up for a down payment.”
