NY Times by DAVID LEONHARDT
Below is an updated list of rent ratios — the price of a typical home divided by the annual cost of renting that home — for 55 metropolitan areas across the country.
A good rule of thumb is that you should often buy when the ratio is below 15 and rent when the ratio is above 20. If it’s between 15 and 20, lean toward renting — unless you find a home you really like and expect to stay there for many years.
| Metro area | Ratio |
| East Bay, Calif. | 35.9 |
| Honolulu | 34.4 |
| San Jose, Calif. | 32.7 |
| San Francisco | 27.9 |
| Seattle | 27.3 |
| Charlotte, N.C. | 27 |
| Orange County, Calif. | 27 |
| New York (Manhattan) | 26.7 |
| Raleigh, N.C. | 26.2 |
| Portland, Ore. | 25.9 |
| North – Central New Jersey | 25.2 |
| Nashville | 24 |
| Denver | 22.6 |
| San Diego | 22.1 |
| Long Island, N.Y. | 21.4 |
| Milwaukee | 21.4 |
| Austin, Tex. | 20.5 |
| Norfolk, Va. | 19.9 |
| Richmond | 19.7 |
| Memphis | 19.3 |
| Bridgeport, Conn. | 18.5 |
| Hartford | 18.4 |
| Boston | 18.4 |
| Washington – Northern Virginia – Maryland | 18.3 |
| Oklahoma City | 18.2 |
| Baltimore | 17.6 |
| Columbus, Ohio | 17.6 |
| Palm Beach County, Fla. | 17.6 |
| Salt Lake City | 17.6 |
| Sacramento | 16.7 |
| San Antonio | 16.7 |
| Chicago | 16.6 |
| New Orleans | 16.2 |
| Philadelphia | 16.1 |
| Houston | 15.9 |
| Fort Lauderdale, Fla. | 15.7 |
| Miami | 15.6 |
| New York | 15.4 |
| Los Angeles | 15.4 |
| Kansas City, Kan. | 15.3 |
| Inland Empire, Calif. | 15.1 |
| National average for metro areas | 15.1 |
| Indianapolis | 15.1 |
| Jacksonville, Fla. | 15 |
| Minneapolis | 14.9 |
| St. Louis | 14.6 |
| Las Vegas | 14.3 |
| Atlanta | 14.3 |
| Orlando, Fla. | 14.1 |
| Tampa Bay, Fla. | 14 |
| Cincinnati | 13.9 |
| Dallas – Fort Worth | 13.8 |
| Phoenix | 13.3 |
| Detroit | 12.4 |
| Cleveland | 11.7 |
| Pittsburgh | 11.4 |
It’s pretty amazing when you think about it. The country has suffered through a terrible crash in home prices, yet buying iffy in many markets.
The data comes from Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics and covers the second quarter of this year. Home prices haven’t changed very much since then, so I would expect ratios in most places to be quite close to the numbers you see here.
December 22, 2010, 11:01 am
