MILWAUKEE — A new study finds it is cheaper to rent than buy a home with a mortgage in Milwaukee.
The loan company, LendingTree, found the average monthly cost to rent in the city is $903. That's compared to the average monthly cost of a house with a mortgage, $1,606 - a difference of $703.
That difference places Milwaukee in 14th place out of the country's 50 largest metros, just below Washington, D.C. and right above Baltimore. The top cities in this aspect? No surprise: New York, San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles.
A home without a mortgage is still cheaper than renting in Milwaukee, LendingTree found, with the average monthly cost of a house without a mortgage being $637. That's a difference of $266.
Milwaukee placed third out of the 50 largest metros in which the spread in costs between renting and owning a home without a mortgage is the narrowest. Only Providence, Rhode Island and Hartford, Connecticut had slimmer differences.
Milwaukee continues to be a hot market for houses, with asking prices soaring for homes on sale.
For the study, LendingTree used data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey. Median monthly gross rent and median monthly housing costs with and without a mortgage include the total monthly cost that renters or owners incur, including utilities, fees and taxes, according to LendingTree.
"LendingTree subtracted the median monthly housing costs in each metro, for both those who have a mortgage and those who own their home outright (without a mortgage), by the median monthly gross rent in each metro to create the two rankings featured in this study,"according to their website.
