Yes, it’s cheaper to buy property than rent in Pittsburgh. A new report by Realtor.com pegs the median home price in Pittsburgh at $245,000 which equates to a monthly mortgage of $1,250.
The average monthly rent in Pittsburgh is $1,445.
Nationally, the monthly cost to buy the median home in the 50 biggest metros was $1,988 in January. That compares to the median monthly rental rate of $1,727.
But not in Pittsburgh — or Cleveland or Chicago — which were some of the 15 metros where it is cheaper to do the reverse.
“In our rent vs buy analysis, for each metro area, we compared the monthly cost* of buying a home for the median listing price against the median monthly rent of two- to four-bedroom units in the area,” says Realtor.com.
“The monthly cost of buying a home is the same or more affordable than renting in 15 of the 50 largest metros, up from 13 markets a year ago. Moreover, there are several ‘borderline’ markets where the monthly cost of buying a home is within 5% of the cost of the median rent in the area.
“In January 2021, the monthly cost to buy the median-priced home in the 50 largest metros was $1,988, or 32% of each metro’s median household income, on average. This is slightly above the upper limit of the budgeting rule of thumb of spending no more than 30% of gross income on housing costs.”
But the monthly cost to buy is up only 0.2% from the same time last year, when it was $1,983. Meanwhile, the cost to rent increased by 2.4% year-over-year, from $1,696 to $1,727, they report.
“Despite the historic growth in home prices over the past year, the monthly cost of buying in the 50 largest metros has remained essentially unchanged, thanks to low mortgage rates, which dropped 102 basis points from a year ago to 2.88% in January,” says Realtor.com.
Mortgage rates have dropped to historic lows, making it cheaper to borrow money, offsetting the increased cost of more expensive homes. Ultimately, while the median listing price of homes in the 50 largest metros has increased by 10.9% on average, the monthly housing costs have only increased by 0.2%.
Read the full report here.