7. San Antonio: Buy
Average annual rent: $10,600
Price to rent ratio: 8.4
San Antonio is another Texas city blessed with lots of wide open spaces around it, developable land that can be acquired cheaply. That has kept home prices low.
Even during the bubble, San Antonio's real estate market merely stayed steady with little soaring price appreciation. So it didn't need prices to crash to make purchasing affordable. The median single family home sold for just $143,000 in early 2010, according to the National; Association of Home Builders.
Condos are even less expensive, averaging under $90,000 for a two bedroom home, according to Trulia. Even though rents are also very reasonable, an average of less than $890 a month for a two bedroom place, the price-to-rent ratio still weighs heavily on the buy side.
NEXT: Seattle: Rent
Last updated June 14 2010: 2:22 PM ET
