BUYING VS RENTING IN NYC
Conventional wisdom tells us that if you plan to live in your next home for 50 years, it makes sense to buy. Conversely, if you plan to live in your next home for just six months, it probably makes more sense to rent. Many renters may feel that homeownership in the Big Apple is a pipe dream, with the common perception that renting is the only viable option in the face of prohibitively high home sale prices. At what point in time does buying over renting become a true toss-up in New York City?
Findings suggest that it makes financial sense to own a home in New York City instead of renting if a person intends to stick around for longer than 4.9 years – a much shorter time than many New Yorkers may expect.
The (Complicated) Cost-Benefit Analysis, Explained
The decision to buy or rent is really a choice between two options: investing in an appreciating asset (a home), or freeing your money for other, potentially higher-yielding investments. If you plan to live in a New York past the tip point, it would make financial sense to buy a home rather than to rent.
When factoring these costs and benefits, we found that the median tipping point in New York City is 4.9 years. Among the five boroughs, the tipping point is longest in Manhattan (7.4 years), followed by the Bronx (4.6 years), Brooklyn (4.4 years), Staten Island (4.1 years) and Queens (3.0 years).
The median resale value of New York City homes rose 31 percent between 2005 and 2015, Street Easy found.
Is now the right time for you to buy, or you just want to lay low and rent for a while? Either way we can help!
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