The age-old debate of whether it’s cheaper to rent or buy a home in Chicago is answered in the newest report from the Urban Institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center. The study reported by Chicago Agent Magazine found that buyers in Chicago will save 5.6 percent more than renters.

The study found that a median-income family would save 5.6 percent of their income if they put a 3.5 percent down payment on a home. According to data released by HSH, the average Chicago homebuyer must make $62,731 in order to afford to buy a home in the metro area. This is using the median home price of $255,600.

The median price of a home in Chicago dipped 3.29 percent in the third quarter of 2017 from the second quarter of the year. For those buying now, a monthly payment of $1,463 is the general expectation.

The homebuyer in Chicago needs more to buy a home compared with the national salary required to buy a home, which is just more than $55,000.

The real estate market in Chicago has yet to fully recover from the Great Recession, though. Another report released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), sales of existing homes and condos in the nine-county Chicago area dipped 1.6 percent in November from last year. The median price was 5.1 percent higher than last year at $225,000. So while home sales slowed, the increased prices could have played a role. 

In the city of Chicago proper, the median price and number of existing home sales didn’t shift much in the past year. The median price of a home sits at $259,500 and 1,923 homes sold.