A house built today of a certain size can be purchased with a lower monthly payment than it can be rented, yes, for exactly the reason you describe. A house bu

A house built today of a certain size can be purchased with a lower monthly payment than it can be rented, yes, for exactly the reason you describe. A house built ten years ago, or twenty years ago, or thirty years ago, can often be rented much more cheaply than a house built today can be purchased. An apartment of the same size as that hypothetical house might be higher or lower, since the economics of apartment buildings tend to be different. A 1-bedroom or 2-bedroom apartment can quite often be rented more cheaply than a 3-bedroom house. "owning is cheaper than renting" is exactly the sort of generalization that gets people into trouble. Every situation is slightly different.