It’s cheaper to rent than buy in most of the US, a new housing analysis found, unless you’re lucky enough to live in four select cities.

The typical home’s monthly mortgage cost is lower than its monthly rent in Detroit, Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Houston, according to the analysis of the 50 most popular metros by real estate brokerage Redfin. These were also the only places where more than 50% of homes in each respective market were more affordable to purchase than rent.

In all other major cities — from San Jose, California to Pittsburgh — renting was more affordable than buying, the report found, a blow to potential homebuyers.

Skyrocketing home prices, elevated rates, and still hot inflation have crushed buyer affordability across the US. Still, somehow those few markets have weathered the storm.

“It’s easier to build there,” Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, told Yahoo Finance about the four cities. “[And] home prices never really accelerated during the pandemic in those areas, at least not as much as they did in the rest of the country.”

“They didn’t have big swings in prices when mortgage rates ticked up,” she added. “It hasn’t really exacerbated housing affordability the way it has in other parts of the country.”

Redfin's calculations considered a 6.5% mortgage rate and a 5% down payment, a homeowners insurance rate equal to 0.5% of the purchase price, and 1.25% annual property tax rate if no tax records were available.

Where it's cheaper to buy

Detroit was by far the most affordable city to purchase a home, Redfin found.

The median monthly mortgage payment in Detroit was $1,296 in March, Redfin estimated, compared with a monthly rent of $1,697, making it 24% less expensive to buy a typical home there. That was the largest discount percentage-wise among the 50 most populous metros.

Philadelphia followed next with a 7% ownership discount, then Cleveland with a 4% discount), and Houston with 1% discount.