Renting vs. buying map: how Texas stacks up

TEXAS – Buying a home has long been part of the American dream, but rising prices have made renting less expensive in many places, according to Deutsche Bank. The five markets where renting has become cheaper than buying include Sacramento; Phoenix; San Bernardino and Riverside, Calif.; Austin; and Northern Virginia.

Miami, San Antonio and Las Vegas are among the hot markets where renters appeared to be on the verge of being better off than buyers at year-end.

The upside of buying is that a home can significantly increase in value. The median sales price of existing single-family homes rose 81 percent from 1993 through 2013, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Renters, however, make more money by investing savings and cash they would otherwise use for a down payment. The value of the average single-family home increased by 3.6 percent a year in the three decades through 2013, compounded annually, according Freddie Mac. By contrast, the compound annual return on the S&P 500 over that period was 11.1 percent, according to Morningstar.

For a nationwide renting vs. buying map, see the Wall Street Journal. (Look at the bottom for the map.)