Housing Choices in Today’s Market Monthly Housing Costs: Owner Vs. Renter 2009 to 2014
February 26,
2016 by in General 
This is the fourth in a series of five factoids studying the recovering housing market by delving into the primary factors that determine a consumer’s home choices. Not only faced with the decision to rent or buy, households planning to move are making choices based on age, size and cost of housing structures.
The monthly mortgage paid by homeowners has actually fallen somewhat since 2009; however, rents have increased significantly. Low interest rates of the past few years have made both refinancing existing mortgages and new purchases attractive.
In 2014, 18 percent of all owner-occupied housing units were paying over $2,000 in monthly mortgage payments down from 21 percent in 2009. In contrast, renter-occupied housing units costing more than $1,000 a month grew from 33.4 percent of all units in 2009 to 41.7 percent in 2014.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS)