Is it cheaper to buy or rent in Philadelphia?
Think you’ll save money by putting off buying a home in Philadelphia and just renting instead? Real estate website Trulia.com says otherwise.
Think you'll save money by putting off buying a home in Philadelphia and just renting instead? Real estate website Trulia.com says otherwise.
According to the site, buying a median-priced home in the city would be 48 percent cheaper than if you rented for seven years. Trulia.com compared a home in Philly worth $175,000 with a median rent of $1,600 per month.
And in case you're wondering how much you would need to earn in order to afford that median-priced home, mortgage website HSH.com reports an after-tax salary of at least $36,836.
In Trulia.com's analysis, the website took data in 100 metro areas, and determined the percentage you'd save in each of them. Nationally, homebuyers would save about 38 percent by buying.
CNN's take on Trulia's data mentioned that Philadelphia's "housing market has been quite stable over the years."
"Median household income of about $67,000 -- slightly above the national median -- makes homebuying affordable for most working families and helps to keep home prices steady," writes Les Christie of CNN.
In some Midwestern cities, such as Toledo and Detroit, the savings were much higher. But in more expensive markets, such as New York and Los Angeles, homebuyers would save less than 25 percent.
Trulia.com took into account all of the initial costs of buying a home, including the broker's commission, title insurance, and other closing costs, and found that it was cheaper than renting costs such as insurance and agent commissions (view full methodology here).
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