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As of February, it’s cheaper to rent a home than buy one in all of the US’s top 50 metros — and by a staggeringly wide margin, according to a recent study.

For a so-called “starter home” in any of these sought-after cities — which some have argued no longer exist thanks to sky-high borrowing rates and inflationary housing prices — it costs 60.1% less to lease the property than own it on a monthly basis, per Realtor.com’s February 2024 Rental Report.

On average, the stiff premium for homeownership amounts to roughly $1,027 in monthly costs — though in the most sought-after cities, that figure more than doubles.

In Austin, Texas, for example, the gap between renting and buying was the largest, according to Realtor.com’s report that was earlier reported on by the Daily Mail.

The monthly cost of buying a starter home — a zero-to-two-bedroom home, per Realtor.com — in the Austin area was $3,695 in February. The sum marked a staggering 141.5%– or $2,165 — more than the typical monthly rent of $1,530 in the Texan capitol.

Seattle’s housing market also boasted a large disparity between buying and renting: The monthly cost of buying a starter home was $4,422 in February, while the median rent was $2,000 — a 121.1% difference, per Realtor.com.

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And in Phoenix, Ariz., the cost of renting monthly, an average of $1,543, was nearly half the $3,071 per month it would require to buy.

Though it’s more expensive to buy a home in all of the 50 major metros in the US, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose and Sacramento in California, as well as Nashville, Portland and Houston rounded out the top 10 cities with the biggest difference between buying and renting.

For reference, in Realtor.com’s February 2023 Rental Report, it found that renting a starter home was more affordable than buying in 45 of the largest US cities.

In the 12 months since, Memphis, Tenn.; Birmingham, Ala.; Pittsburgh, Pen.;, St. Louis, Mo.; and Baltimore, Md., have flipped from favoring homeowners to favoring renters, according to the Daily Mail.

Realtor.com — which assumed an 8% downpayment, a mortgage rate of 6.78% and included the cost of taxes, insurance and fees in its calculations — noted that buying a starter home is becoming increasingly more expensive as the price of monthly rents have dropped at a faster rate than buying costs.

In February, buying costs dropped 1.6% in the previous 12 months, while rent costs dropped 4.44%.

The key driver of this was elevated mortgage rates, Realtor.com said.

In February, the average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.78%, according to the real-estate listings website — up from 6.26% 12 months prior.

Surging rates have made it so unaffordable to take on a mortgage that there’s a growing number of buyers these days that Redfin calls “nepo” buyers — a reference to the nepo baby phenomenon where children of celebrities ride their coattails to gain a foothold on a career.

According to a recent survey from Redfin, 36% of Gen Zers, whose ages range between 12 and 27, and millennials, 28 to 43, are expecting a cash gift from family members in order to fund their downpayment twice as many as there were just five years ago.

Another 16% are anticipating to use an inheritance to help fund their downpayment, and 13% plan to live with their parents or other family members.

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Entertainment

Scottish artist Nnena Kalu wins Turner Prize 2025 for hanging Barcelona sculptures and Liverpool exhibition

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Scottish artist Nnena Kalu wins Turner Prize 2025 for hanging Barcelona sculptures and Liverpool exhibition

Scottish artist Nnena Kalu has won the 2025 Turner Prize with two exhibitions, including a series of brightly coloured sculptures.

The Glaswegian, 59, took home the visual arts prize along with £25,000 at an award ceremony on Tuesday in Bradford, this year’s UK City of Culture.

As reported by The Guardian, she is the first artist with a learning disability to win the award.

Nnena Kalu, from Glasgow, is the winner of this year's Turner Prize. Pic: Nnena Kalu/ActionSpace/PA
Image:
Nnena Kalu, from Glasgow, is the winner of this year’s Turner Prize. Pic: Nnena Kalu/ActionSpace/PA

Along with Hanging Sculpture 1-10, which European art exhibitors Manifesta commissioned her to create at a disused power station in Barcelona, Ms Kalu won for her presentation in Conversations, a group exhibition at Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.

For the sculpture series, the artist created the vividly-coloured works from repeated lines and wrappings of different materials, making nest or cocoon-like forms.

Hanging Sculpture 1 - 10 by Nnena Kalu. Pic: PA
Image:
Hanging Sculpture 1 – 10 by Nnena Kalu. Pic: PA

The installation consisted of 10 large brightly-coloured sculptures that hung from grey concrete pillars of the industrial site.

Meanwhile, for Conversations, Kalu presented work in pen, graphite and chalk pen on two pieces of paper.

More on Turner Prize

Conversations by Nnena Kalu. Pic: PA
Image:
Conversations by Nnena Kalu. Pic: PA

The jury, which was chaired by Alex Farquharson, the director of Tate Britain, commended Kalu’s “bold and compelling work” and praised the “lively translation of expressive gesture” in the abstract sculpture and drawing.

The panel also acknowledged her scale, composition and colour, highlighting “the powerful presence” her works have.

Nnena Kalu's nominated Turner Prize works. Pic: PA
Image:
Nnena Kalu’s nominated Turner Prize works. Pic: PA

Kalu is also a resident artist at ActionSpace’s studio, which supports learning disabled artists across London at Studio Voltaire, and beat out fellow shortlisted artists Rene Matic, Mohammed Sami and Zadie Xa.

The works by the four artists are currently available to see at a free exhibition at Bradford’s Cartwright Hall Art Gallery until 22 February.

Jonathan Orrell views work by Nnena Kalu for the Turner Prize. Pic: PA
Image:
Jonathan Orrell views work by Nnena Kalu for the Turner Prize. Pic: PA

Named after British painter JMW Turner, this year’s prize marked the 250th anniversary of his birth.

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Previous winners include artist Damien Hirst in 1995 and filmmaker Sir Steve McQueen in 1999, while last year’s winner, Jasleen Kaur, picked up the prize for Alter Altar – which covered a red sports car with a giant ornamental doily mat.

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Environment

Is a $10,000 discount enough to overcome your VW ID.Buzz sticker shock?

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Is a ,000 discount enough to overcome your VW ID.Buzz sticker shock?

VW’s retro-tastic minivan hasn’t been the sales success the company might have wanted, and a lot of that has to do with the van’s sky high price tag. Now, VW is asking: will a $10,000 discount be enough to create some buzz for the ID.Buzz?

Volkswagen is offering $7,500 in Retail Customer Bonus cash this month – up from the $2,500 the company offered its Black Friday customers – that, along with an additional $2,500 unadvertised dealer cash incentive that CarsDirect is reporting absolutely, definitely exists, adds up to a stout $10,000 total discount on the all-electric VW ID.Buzz … and that’s before you start haggling with your dealer over the MSRP.

It’s a lot


VW ID. Buzz trims
Photo: Volkswagen of America.

As much as I like the the Volkswagen ID.Buzz, its starting MSRP around $61,545 (incl. destination) puts it at nearly twice what you’d probably expect a minivan to cost if the last time you shopped for one was at a Dodge store. Still, that hefty price tag is some $20,000 higher than the baseline Toyota Sienna hybrid or Honda Odyssey.

That 50% higher price is a lot to swallow even if you do buy into the nostalgia. Still, the ID.Buzz is capable enough, and with ~230 miles of range and 282 hp on offer from its battery/electric motor combo – plus Supercharger access – it’s at least able to keep up with the minivan competition.

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So, while that $10,000 discount isn’t going to turn the ID.Buzz into the second coming of the affordable, family-hauling Caravan, it does bring VW’s electric people-mover a little closer to earth. In fact, with a $50K price tag, it’s right in line with the average transaction price of a new vehicles. So, if nothing else, that reduced price could finally gives electric minivan buyers something to buzz about (I tried so hard to work that in, you guys).

If you’ve been shopping for a family-hauler and dig the retro vibe over something like the (excellent) Kia EV9, click through the link below and set up a test drive at your local VW dealer.

SOURCE: CarsDirect; images via VW.


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Sports

White Sox win draft lottery, will pick 1st in 2026

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White Sox win draft lottery, will pick 1st in 2026

The Chicago White Sox won the 2026 MLB draft lottery Tuesday and will pick first in next summer’s draft.

The White Sox had the best odds to get the top pick at 27.73% after finishing 60-102 in the 2025 season. They will have the top selection for the first time since taking Harold Baines in 1977.

Tuesday’s draft lottery determined the first six spots of the first round, with the remaining picks being set in inverse order of the teams’ regular-season records.

The Tampa Bay Rays will select at No. 2, and the No. 3 pick went to the Minnesota Twins, who had the second-best odds to win the lottery at 22.18%. Rounding out the six lottery picks were the San Francisco Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals.

The league-worst Colorado Rockies(43-119) were not eligible for this year’s lottery because a team cannot receive a lottery pick in three consecutive years. They will pick 10th in the draft.

The Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels also were not eligible because they are “payor clubs” — or teams that give rather than receive revenue-sharing dollars — and cannot receive a lottery pick in consecutive years. The Nationals landed the 11th pick, while the Angels will pick 12th.

MLB and the players’ association established the lottery in the March 2022 collective bargaining agreement. The union pushed for the innovation to encourage teams to compete for wins rather than trade off players at the deadline in an attempt to get a higher draft choice.

The 2026 draft will take place July 11-12 in Philadelphia as part of MLB’s All-Star Week festivities.

The Nationals won the lottery last year and selected high school shortstop Eli Willits with the No. 1 pick.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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