Zillow Real Estate Research looked at the past two decades to see when buying a home was a better option than renting.
Zillow’s Breakeven Horizon looks at the length of time a household would need to live in a property for it to have been more financially advantageous to buy instead of renting.
“Early 2000 buyers broke even very quickly by building wealth in housing and voiding the stock market during the early 2000s,” the report says.
Additionally, many who bought during the home value trough in 2012 now enjoy large ownership surpluses, which is when households begin saving relative to renting.