The United States Census considers households that spend at least 35% of their monthly income on housing costs (mortgage, utilities, taxes, and other homeownership costs) to be “cost-burdened”. A decade ago, this figure accounted for 29% of homeowners in the United States. Today this number is much lower, falling to 21%. Compare this to the number of cost-burdened renters (40.6%) and the difference is nearly 19%. Many people believe that renting is the more affordable option in today’s market, but this simply isn’t the case as these numbers show.
The typical rent payment across the country has risen sharply, while the average mortgage payment has gone down making it more affordable to own your home than it is to rent. If you’ve been thinking about purchasing your own home, this could be the perfect time to make the move. Historically low interest rates combined with rising rent payments make this a logical time to purchase a home.
