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Posted by Nancy on November 05, 2001 at 14:02:30:

In Reply to: Why do you Rent ? posted by Curious on November 04, 2001 at 12:31:31:

I find your question to be more than a bit insulting (and factually inaccurate), as if only idiots would rent rather than buy. But the fact that so many New Yorkers rent ought to tell you that there is a systemic reason rather than individual ones. The answer is quite simple. Renting is the norm in many cities where the cost of buying a home is sky-high. In Boston, for example, where even a starter home is over $250k, about 80% of people rent. Cities with low ownership costs (Detroit, for example) tend to have high ownership rates, over 75%. People rent when the cost of buying is so high that breaking into the ownership market is simply out of reach.

You must also remember that many (most?) people who own homes didn't just buy them; they were bought years, even decades, ago when circumstances were different, and many people inherited their homes or in some other way got them (or the down payment) from the previous generations. In a city with aa high percentage of immgrants, you can see how that might be problemmatic.

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: I find your question to be more than a bit insulting (and factually inaccurate), as if only idiots would rent rather than buy.  But the fact that so many New Yorkers rent ought to tell you that there is a systemic reason rather than individual ones.  The answer is quite simple.  Renting is the norm in many cities where the cost of buying a home is sky-high.  In Boston, for example, where even a starter home is over $250k, about 80% of people rent.   Cities with low ownership costs (Detroit, for example) tend to have high ownership rates, over 75%.  People rent when the cost of buying is so high that breaking into the ownership market is simply out of reach.  

: You must also remember that many (most?) people who own homes didn't just buy them; they were bought years, even decades, ago when circumstances were different, and many people inherited their homes or in some other way got them (or the down payment) from the previous generations.  In a city with aa high percentage of immgrants, you can see how that might be problemmatic.  


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