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Should You Rent or Buy? The New Math.

For many millennials, buying a home has become almost entirely out of reach. Average 30-year mortgage rates are hovering around 7 percent — the highest they’ve been since 2007 — largely because of the Federal Reserve’s efforts to tame inflation. David Leonhardt, a senior writer for The New York Times, discusses whether it is time to change how we think about buying vs. renting.
Duration
30m
Broadcast on
01 Dec 2023
Audio Format
other

For many millennials, buying a home has become almost entirely out of reach. Average 30-year mortgage rates are hovering around 7 percent — the highest they’ve been since 2007 — largely because of the Federal Reserve’s efforts to tame inflation.

David Leonhardt, a senior writer for The New York Times, discusses whether it is time to change how we think about buying vs. renting.

Guest: David Leonhardt, a senior writer for The New York Times. He writes The Morning, The Times’s flagship daily newsletter, and also writes for Sunday Review.

Background reading: 

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.

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This podcast is supported by TikTok. Sometimes the most interesting discoveries are the ones you weren't looking for. That happens every day on TikTok. A science experiment can spark a whole new interest. A recipe you stumble upon can become a meal you make for the people you love. And a restaurant you've never heard of might become your new favorite spot. That's the thing about TikTok. Follow your curiosity and see where it leads. Your next discovery is waiting on TikTok. From New York Times I'm Michael Bobaro. This is The Daily. (upbeat music) Today, for many millennials, purchasing a home has become almost entirely out of reach. So much so that we asked our colleague, David Leonhardt, whether it's time to change once and for all, how we think about the wisdom of why verses went in. (upbeat music) It's Friday, December 1st. David, on yesterday's daily, we talk to our colleague, Gina Spylak, about why this economy has been so frustrating for younger Americans, in particular, and a big reason for that, as Gina mentioned, is the cost of housing. In particular, the cost of home ownership, which feels almost entirely out of reach for so many millennials, because interest rates are so high right now and so are home prices. And I'll be transparent with you, our team here at The Daily is made up of a lot of said millennials who live in big cities, spend a lot of time on Zillow, and have gotten very frustrated, and they really wanna know, will they ever be able to afford to buy a home? So that cut us thinking, can we help listeners think about whether buying a home really makes sense right now? And naturally, David, we thought of you, you've been writing about economics and housing for a very long time. You once helped create a calculator for people to use to determine if home ownership is right for them, and you just wrote an entire book

Transcription truncated.

For many millennials, buying a home has become almost entirely out of reach. Average 30-year mortgage rates are hovering around 7 percent — the highest they’ve been since 2007 — largely because of the Federal Reserve’s efforts to tame inflation. David Leonhardt, a senior writer for The New York Times, discusses whether it is time to change how we think about buying vs. renting.