Charlotte 2nd On Places to Buy Versus Rent

The other day I was sitting in a starbucks and came across a Forbes magazine. On the cover was a mention to the top ten cities where you are better off buying than renting right now. The magazine issue came out in the end of January. Number 2 on the list of places was Charlotte North Carolina area.

Renting versus buying is never an easy decision. In this market that decision has been even more complex. Do you wait and see if home prices tumble some more? Or do you buy now with rates at the lowest they have been since the 1940's? There are a lot of people out there wondering if they should or should wait.

One factor to take into account is the cost of home ownership versus the cost of renting. Interest rates right now are holding steady at the lowest levels they have been since the 1940's. That coupled with the housing prices dropping significantly over the past three years; has made the affordability the best it has been. A lot of buyers are finding that they can own a home for around the same amount they are paying now in rent or very close to that amount.

Forbes in their study found this to be accurate. Over the last fifteen years this is the smallest margin between owning a home and renting. The numbers are based on an average rent for the Charlotte area versus the average sale price with median interest rates.

Another factor they had to take into account was the projection of home prices over the next five years... Now, when this article was written they were projecting home prices to increase an average of 12.55% over the next five years. Based on the last couple of months it looks like home prices have stabilized and are slowly increasing.

This data supports the notion that the time to buy may be now...Charlotte is one of the few areas in the country that home prices are expected to see double digit price increases over the next five years. A lot has to do with the growth of new business moving in to Charlotte as well as the diversity of the economic nature of the area.

Considering moving to Charlotte or buying...... now may be the time.

Dave diCecco

Realtor/Broker

www.davedicecco.com