Sold on buying
San Antonio brings home No. 2 ranking among best places to buy vs. rent
Yes, home prices in the San Antonio area have skyrocketed recently, rising 19 percent from December 2020 to December 2021. However, a new analysis shows it’s actually better to buy than rent a place to live in Alamo City.
In fact, San Antonio ranks second on Realtor.com’s new list of the places in the U.S. where it’s better to buy than rent.
To come up with the list, Realtor.com looked at the median rents of homes in the 100 largest metro areas. All rentals were evaluated, such as one-bedroom apartments and four-bedroom homes. Realtor.com then examined the median home prices in those 100 places and calculated the monthly cost of buying with a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage.
When the list was published, Realtor.com indicated the median price of a San Antonio-area home was $347,250. The monthly payment for a mortgage was $1,414, while the median rent was $3,178.
“With miles of sprawling, flat land and few regulations for builders, this South-central Texas city has seen new homes popping up at a rapid pace. Even older homes that may need updates are being torn down to make room for new abodes,” Realtor.com says of San Antonio.
“With lots of places to choose from,” Realtor.com continues, “competition isn’t nearly as fierce here as in Austin, an hour and a half away. And home prices here are reasonable compared with much of the rest of the country.”
Here is Realtor.com’s ranking of the 10 metro areas where it’s better to buy than rent:
- Fort Myers, Florida.
- San Antonio.
- Scranton, Pennsylvania.
- Riverside, California.
- New Haven, Connecticut.
- St. Louis.
- Cleveland.
- Buffalo, New York.
- Detroit.
- Chicago.