To buy or to rent ?

According to a report in local daily in almost 90% of the country, the average rent is higher than the cost of buying a median-priced home. The exceptions are in the handful of highest-priced housing mar ets in the country li e-!an "rancisco, #e$ %or and Arlington. &onsistent 'ob gro$th has made it possible for more people to rent their o$n apartments. !till, rising home prices are preventing many from buying. Renting over Purchase The national vacancy rate for apartments decreased from ( percent to ).* percent from +009 to +0*,, At the same time, the average price of an existing -.!. .ouse has risen about *) percent, according to commercial real estate news provided by /eis 0nc. to a ne$spaper report. 1eople are discouraged to invest in .ouses as a effect of housing mar et disaster of +002. A burden of foreclosures forced many people to move out of their homes and into apartment leases. 3n the other side, construction of apartments $as uphold until the last fe$ years because many builders couldn4t get loans during the credit crisis.0n certain places, this led to lease and a rise in rents. This $as seen as opportunity for the landlords to increase rents in many mar ets. The Calculation 5efore your monthly cost comparison, there is a lot of math4s re6uired to call a real estate agent. "or purchasing a house you need to pay at least +0 percent do$n payment. "or many first-time buyers, pooling this amount can be difficult. The rent-versus-o$nership analysis also states that you need to spend 0.,7 percent of the amount of your mortgage on insurance and another *.0) percent on property taxes. 8aintenance cost and cost of other utilities consumed in the house is extra to the total amount.0f you thin you can get a loan easily as the price of house is less than its not a valid assumption especially if you4re one of the 2 million former homeo$ners $ho lost their property to a foreclosure or short sale. 9ven if you4re credit is solid, rising interest rates are lifting the income level you4ll need to cover your monthly mortgage payment. Minimum fuel required 5ut those are 'ust the averages. 0n the priciest mar ets, you4ll need to sho$ a lot more income on your tax returns to get the nod from a mortgage company. 0n !an "rancisco, you4ll need to earn :++(,700 to buy a median-priced home. 3ther high-cost counties come $ith high minimums to 6ualify, including 8arin &ounty, &alif., ;:*2(,000<, !an 8ateo &ounty, &alif. ;:*20,000<, Arlington &ounty, =a. ;:*7(,700<, !anta &lara &ounty, &alif. ;:*)9,700< and .udson &ounty, #.>. ;:*)+,700<. As the affordability gap bet$een rising rents, housing price and income of the people $idens. 8ore pressure is added on the -.!. economy, $hich relies primarily on consumer spending. Therefore in either of the $ay consumer $ill have to bear the burden.