Craig Douglas
Managing editor/online vertical products and research- Boston Business Journal
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While the housing market has shown signs of overheating in recent months, it is still considerably cheaper to buy a house than it is to rent one in Greater Boston.
That’s according to Trulia Chief Economist Jed Kolko, who told Forbes.com that on average it’s about 35 percent cheaper to buy a house than it is to rent one in 100 of the largest metropolitan areas in the country. That said, some markets – San Jose, San Francisco and Honolulu, in particular – are nearing that cross-over point, he said.
As for markets in Massachusetts, it may surprise some that significant own-to-rent discounts still exist, even in Boston’s frothy housing market. According to Kolko’s research, the average discount in the Boston metro area is 29 percent, meaning it will cost home buyers on average 29 percent less per month to own versus rent. In Middlesex county, the discount is 33 percent, while the differences in lower-cost Peabody and Worcester are 43 percent and 45% percent, respectively. In Springfield, it’s 49 percent.
Click here to access Forbes’ interactive Rent vs. Buy Map.
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