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This infographic from the New York Times shows the purchase price of a typical house divided by the annual rent of that house, so the higher the number, the more expensive it is to own relative to rent. The ratio tells you roughly how many years it would take to pay for a house with the current rent.
In all major cities, the cost of owning has gone down relative to renting. Of these cities (which disappointingly does not include Detroit), Columbus, OH is currently the best place to own, and San Jose the worst. Raleigh is about average with a ratio of 18.1, but the cost to own has declined much less than most other cities.
[Hat tip: DataViz]
