Current State of the Rent-versus-Own Debate
There are pros and cons of both renting an apartment and owning a home.
Renting a home
When you rent, you have more flexibility. If you need to move, you don’t have to worry about selling a home. You can simply move after your lease ends or, depending on your agreement with your landlord, you can break your existing lease.
You also don’t have to worry about maintenance. If your sink is leaking, you can call your landlord to schedule a repair.
Your cash outlay is smaller. You won’t have to pay property taxes, homeowners insurance premiums or maintenance expenses like a new roof or an air conditioner unit.
On the downside, though, you don’t build any wealth when you rent. Instead, you send money to your landlord each month and those dollars disappear. You also are limited in what you can do with your apartment unit. You can’t update the kitchen cabinets, move walls or add rooms, like you can when you own a home.
Owning a home
If you own a home, though, you can build equity — the difference between what you owe on your mortgage and what your home is worth. If you have enough equity, you can borrow against it to fund home improvements, pay down credit card debt or use the money however you’d like.
Owning a home also helps you build wealth. The more equity you build, the more you’ll likely profit when it’s time to sell. When you rent, you don’t build wealth; you simply send money to your landlord each month.
On the negative side? When you own a home, you’re responsible for maintenance. When something breaks, you must fix it or pay to get it fixed. You also must pay property taxes, which could be a significant bill, depending on where you live. Owning isn’t as flexible, either. If you sell your home and move, that’s a process that can take significant time and money.
What about the financial costs?
What’s more affordable, renting or owning? That’s complicated.
It’s true that with higher mortgage interest rates and increasing home prices, owning a home is more expensive today than it was three years ago. However, apartment rents are higher today too.
How high? Apartment List published its latest national rent report, showing that the median monthly apartment rent across the country stood at $1,402 in mid-2025. But these monthly rents are higher in bigger cities. The median monthly rent stood at $1,822 in Chicago, while it was an even-higher $3,019 for a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco.
At the same time, the National Association of Realtors reported that the median sales price of an existing home hit $435,300, an all-time high. According to Mortgage News Daily, if you buy a home at that median price with a down payment of 20% and a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at an interest rate of 6.81%, your monthly mortgage payment, not including what you’d pay in homeowners insurance and property taxes, would be $2,273.
As you can see, both renting and buying can be expensive today. The decision on which route to go, then, often depends on your goals. Do you plan to live in the same location for a long time? Owning might be the better choice. But if you plan on moving after just a year or two, renting an apartment might make more sense. A real estate professional can help you make the right choice for your personal situation.
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