…according to cnn/money…
Take it with a grain of salt…Afterall, it’s cnn/money..Then again, what happens at the national level doesn’t matter. I’m more interested in the local numbers….
As if record low mortgage rates and beaten down home prices weren’t enough to get prospective home buyers off the fence, there’s another factor that has made the case for buying even stronger: rising rents.
U.S. rents rose an average of 5.4% over the 12 months ended June 30, according to real estate website Trulia. Demand from former homeowners displaced by foreclosure and potential homebuyers who failed to qualify for mortgages have helped to send rents skyward.
“With rents rising faster than prices in most markets, buying is getting even more affordable relative to renting,” said Jed Kolko, Trulia’s chief economist.
Meanwhile, asking prices on homes listed for sale inched up a mere 0.3% over the same period, according to Trulia’s data. And while that’s the fourth increase in home prices in five months — an indication that prices may be starting to recover — the gains are modest compared to the increases in rental rates over the past 12 months.
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