About 8 percent of homeshoppers on Zillow are also browsing rental listings, according to a new analysis from the company, a sign that affordability pressures are blurring the line between renting and buying for a growing share of consumers.
Zillow dubbed these consumers “dual shoppers” and found they tend to search for similar types of homes across both markets, most often three-bedroom properties, suggesting their lifestyle preferences remain consistent even as they weigh different financial paths.
For the homes dual shoppers consider, owning is typically $415 more expensive per month than renting, a gap that includes mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance and maintenance after a 20 percent down payment, Zillow said. In high-cost markets like San Jose, that monthly gap can exceed $3,400.
“In today’s market, affordability is fundamentally changing how people approach their housing search,” Zillow Senior Economist Kara Ng said. “More shoppers are weighing renting and buying side by side, especially as the monthly cost of owning continues to outpace rents in many markets.”
Coastal markets lead
Dual shopping is most prevalent in markets where affordability constraints create the steepest divide between owning and leasing. Los Angeles leads the nation with 12 percent of for-sale shoppers also browsing rentals, followed by San Diego at 10.8 percent and San Francisco at 10.1 percent.
In each of those metros, Zillow said the median household would need to spend roughly two-thirds of its income on a monthly mortgage payment with a 20 percent down payment. Renting cuts that burden to about one-third of income.
New York City stands out as a major outlier: According to StreetEasy data, 29.9 percent of NYC homeshoppers are also considering rentals — 3.8 times the national share. Zillow attributed the figure to the city’s high share of renter households, about 70 percent, and steep home prices.
At the other end of the spectrum, dual shopping is least common in more affordable markets. Hartford, Connecticut, recorded the lowest share at 4.2 percent.
What dual shoppers look for
Dual shoppers typically explore larger homes when browsing for-sale listings; the rentals they consider are, on average, 284 square feet smaller. Even so, Zillow said those rental properties often provide higher value per square foot based on Zestimate comparisons, suggesting they may feature newer finishes or more efficient layouts.
Zillow said having both for-sale and rental listings on one platform gives the company a view into consumer behavior that wasn’t previously possible.
“In the past, you were either a buyer or a renter, and those two paths rarely met,” Ng said. “But on Zillow, those aisles are right next to each other, and we’re seeing shoppers toggle between a for-sale listing and a rental in the same neighborhood as they weigh which option works better for their life.”
