Jared Whalen/Axios
Owning a median-priced home is more affordable than the average rent on a three-bedroom property in 58% of the U.S., a new report says.
There’s a big city/suburban divide, though: Renting makes more sense in big metropolitan areas, while homeownership wins out in rural areas and suburbs, where property prices are lower…
Driving the news: A new report by ATTOM, the big real estate database company, shows that the more populous a county, the more likely it is that renting will be cheaper than owning, and vice versa…
“The good news is that for average wage earners who can afford a down payment, owning in a majority of the country takes a smaller percentage of their income and offers a chance to build equity and wealth,” says Todd Teta, chief product officer at ATTOM.
Not completely unusual. This was the decision I had to confront back in New England decades ago – when I ended up buying a home for the first time.
A useful article.
Eideard 
“When Private Equity Becomes Your Landlord : Amid a national housing crisis, giant private equity firms have been buying up apartment buildings en masse to squeeze them for profit, with the help of government-backed Freddie Mac. Meanwhile, tenants say they’re the ones paying the price.” https://www.propublica.org/article/when-private-equity-becomes-your-landlord
“Why You Can’t Afford a Place to Live” https://www.dcreport.org/2022/02/09/why-you-cant-afford-a-place-to-live/
“Apartment dwellers getting priced out of Santa Fe” https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/apartment-dwellers-getting-priced-out-of-santa-fe/article_7c0db530-8608-11ec-926f-3b43db4940b2.html
“Seven years ago, $850 was the going monthly rate for an apartment in Santa Fe.
Today, $850 falls square in the realm of low-income housing — a commodity as rare in Santa Fe as a $250,000 house.
And the starting rent at Santa Fe’s newest apartments mostly tops $1,700 per month.”
“It’s not just home prices. Rents rise sharply across the U.S.” (NPR) https://www.npr.org/2022/02/14/1080145270/its-not-just-home-prices-rents-rise-sharply-across-the-u-s