Buying a House is Now Cheaper Per Month Than Renting an Apartment in Odessa

If you are thinking of changing apartments in Odessa to get cheaper rent, it is now cheaper to buy a house and pay a monthly mortgage than paying rent on an apartment.

According to CBS 7, in 2019 mortgage and rent prices were growing at the same rate, but when the pandemic hit in early 2020, things took a sharp downward turn.

During the pandemic rent and home prices bounced back and mortgage payments became cheaper than apartment rent.

Realtors are reporting that renting a home costs 40% more every month than it does for homeowners paying their monthly mortgage.

“I’ve watched it be 6%, 5%, 4%, this is the lowest rates I think we’ve ever had,” said Gayle Hirsch, a real estate broker in Odessa.

Realtors are saying that now is the best time to buy a home, but don't expect the time to last long.

“Those rates are not going to stay like this forever, they’re probably as low as we are going to see them and experts are telling me, that are in the industry, they do expect them to start inching up, going up from here,” said Heather Pritchard, owner of Ziglas Realty.

Realtors report that more people moving to the area are having homes built.

“We do get more people in here because more of the oil companies are starting to do stuff and oil's up, so it is starting to bring more people back,” said Hirsch.

So if you are contemplating buying a home, don't wait too long and just go for it now while rates are cheap.