I s Renting a Much Better Deal?

How big is the spread between renting and owning and what's a better deal? The New York Times reports:

For new home buyers, prices in New York would need to rise roughly another 13 percent over the next five years for the average buyer to do better than the average renter over that span. In Northern California, where the gap between house prices and rents is largest, home values would need to go up about 19 percent by 2010.

Over the next decade, the break-even increase is about 25 percent in New York and 40 percent in California.

Good luck to those who are buying property now in California.