Home | Newsletter | Advertise
loading...

Trulia: Buying 17% Cheaper Than Renting in the DC Area

  • October 21st 2015

by UrbanTurf Staff

✉️ Want to forward this article? Click here.

Trulia: Buying 17% Cheaper Than Renting in the DC Area: Figure 1
A home that recently hit the market in DC.

Despite rising home prices, it is still cheaper to buy than to rent in the DC area, according to a report published today by Trulia. However, that calculation is tipping more in favor of renting.

Trulia determined that buying is 17 percent cheaper than renting in the region. Renting would begin to make more sense than buying in the region if interest rates rose to 5.8 percent. When UrbanTurf has reported on this analysis in the past, the percent in favor of buying has been closer to 30 percent.

As we have reported when covering this analysis in the past, it is important to understand the criteria that Trulia uses when determining if it is cheaper to buy than rent in a metropolitan area.

The company calculates the figures assuming a 20 percent down payment on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage financed with a 3.85 percent interest rate. It assumes people itemize their federal tax deductions and are in the 25 percent tax bracket, and factors in renovation and maintenance costs, as well as insurance, utilities, and property taxes at the average metro property tax rate. For renters, the company tacks on renters’ insurance.

Perhaps most significant in the calculations is that Trulia assumes that a homeowner will live in the home for at least seven years.

If you don’t agree with the assumptions, Trulia has a rent-versus-buy calculator, so that users can play around with specific numbers.

See other articles related to: buying versus renting, trulia

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/trulia_buying_17_cheaper_than_renting_in_the_dc_area/10486.

DC Real Estate Guides

Short guides to navigating the DC-area real estate market

We've collected all our helpful guides for buying, selling and renting in and around Washington, DC in one place. Start browsing below!

First-Timer Primers

Intro guides for first-time home buyers

Red Flags Revealed During a Home Inspection Top 5 Tax Breaks For Homeowners Tax Relief for DC Homeowners
Condo Fee Tutorial What is a Rent Back? 10 Ways To Tell If a Home Renovation is Well Done
Obtaining a Basic Business License For Your Rental What is an Adjustable Rate Mortgage? The Splitting the Rent Formula
How Much Cash Do You Need to Buy a House? Is This Condo Building Financially Healthy? Interest Rates and Mortgage Points
The Scoop on Mortgage Insurance

Unique Spaces

Awesome and unusual real estate from across the DC Metro

The Most Intriguing Loft in DC The R Street Firehouse DC’s One-Room House
Dupont Circle’s Old Frat House To Become Alley Home Best Transition From a Garage To a Home The Roundhouse
Tilden Gardens Restaurant-Turned-Home Hits Market Next Week Logan Circle’s Most Intriguing Garage Frank Lloyd Wright Goes Green in Kensington
Sears Bungalow Gets a Modern Makeover Old Town General Store Becomes Three-Level Home Making the Most of a Skinny House
A Studio 27 Renovation on Capitol Hill Once a Carriage House, Now a Home The Bank that Became a Home
From Pie to Hooch to Heroin to Home The Live-Aboards of Gangplank Marina A Treehouse with Rock Creek Park As A Backyard
Modern Tranquility in Sperryville Saddle Up For Stable Living Throwing a Curve at 550 Square Feet
A Modern Hilltop Retreat Tilden Street Restaurant Becomes Spacious Home Focus on Design: A Vastu Unit at 22 West
The DC Area’s First Net Zero Home A Yankee Goes Green DC’s First Carbon Neutral Home
Eco-Friendly Alley House Off H Street The Gym, The Stables and The Firehouse