In February, the national median rent continued to decline year-over-year for the seventh month in a row, down 0.4 percent across the top 50 metros, according to realtor.com. The median asking rent was $1,708, down by $4 from January.
The U.S. median rent in February was just $50 less than the peak seen in August 2022.
Working with the assumption of an 8 percent down payment and using the 30-year fixed mortgage rate, Realtor.com found that the cost of buying a starter home in the top 50 metros was $1,027 higher than renting one. In the top 10 metros that favor renting over buying, the average monthly payments for a starter home were $1,950 higher than rents.
Of note, Memphis, Birmingham, Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Baltimore were the five metros that flipped from buy-favoring to rent-favoring over the past 12 months. Austin topped the list of markets that favor renting, where the monthly cost of buying a starter home was $3,695, some 141.5 percent more than the monthly rent.