SHORT LIST

Rental Conditions

The monthly house payment on a median-priced, three-bedroom home is more affordable than the monthly rent payment for a fair-market-priced home, according to a recent study by RealtyTrac.

There were 351 counties out of the 461 analyzed (76 percent) where house payments on a median-priced home in the first quarter of 2015 were lower than fair-market rents on three-bedroom homes.

Among those 351 counties, 56 saw home prices rise at least 7 percent compared to a year ago in the first quarter, and wages rose at least 3 percent annually. These additional factors make owning a home more attractive than renting for many U.S. residents.

Of the 56 best-performing counties, the most affordable areas for buying were Bay County, Michigan, (11 percent of median income to make house payments on a median priced-home); Fayette County, Pennsylvania, (11 percent); Beaver County, Pennsylvania, (14 percent); Tazewell County, Illinois, (14 percent); and Butler County, Ohio, (14 percent).

Daren Blomquist, a vice president at RealtyTrac, says that renters who are able to make at least a 10 percent down payment are better off buying than renting in the majority of markets across the country. But “factors other than affordability are keeping many renters from becoming buyers, a reality that means real estate investors buying residential properties as rentals still have the opportunity to make strong returns in many markets,” he says. “Also, keep in mind that in some markets buying may be more affordable than renting, but that doesn’t mean buying is truly affordable by traditional standards. In those markets, renters are stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to deciding whether to buy or continue renting.”