Portland #1 U.S. City Where it Makes More Sense to Rent an Apartment Than Buy a Home

A brand new report out from Multifamily Executive indicates that a recent comparison of first quarter single-family home prices in the top 50 metro areas puts Portland #1 in terms of price to rent ratio – meaning that it makes more sense to rent in Portland than any other city based on the cost to purchase a house vs. rent. The price-to-rent ratio is calculated by dividing the annual rental cost for a unit by the price of a single-family home in the same area. A ratio higher than 15 signifies that renting makes better financial sense. Portland’s ratio was 25.5.

Of the top 50 U.S. metro areas, here are the top 5 Cities where it makes more sense to rent than to buy:

(Multifamily Executive, July, 2009)