Last updated October 18, 2026
Rent vs Own in West Palm Beach: The Break-Even Year
At today’s West Palm Beach numbers, buying the median single-family home beats renting the equivalent home if you stay past year 25. Buying the median condo beats renting the equivalent condo only if you stay about 13 years, because the condo fee does most of the damage. Below is how we got there, with every input from a primary source and a calculator that lets you change any of them.
Price my home correctly or read how we price a home first. The owner you rent from should know this number too. If that owner is you, start with what the home is worth today, or call (561) 395-8418.
The honest number: gross cost, net cost, and what you keep
The monthly payment is not the cost of owning. Part of it is principal, which is money you keep. In year one on the median West Palm Beach house at 7.37% with 20% down, $362 of the $3,176 principal-and-interest payment is principal. So the gross cost to own is $5,522 a month and the net cost, the part that is actually gone, is $5,160. The median single-family lease in West Palm Beach over the last 13 months was $3,795. That leaves a real gap of $1,365 a month in the renter’s favor at the start. The rest of this page is about how long it takes appreciation, principal paydown and rent growth to close that gap.
| Month one, median single-family home | Own | Rent |
|---|---|---|
| Principal and interest, 30-year fixed at 7.37%, 20% down | $3,176 | — |
| Property tax with homestead (20.4468 mills, two $25,000 exemptions) | $908 | — |
| Home insurance, county average including wind | $527 | — |
| Median HOA fee where applicable | $432 | — |
| Maintenance reserve, 1% of price per year | $479 | — |
| Rent, median closed single-family lease (n=169) | — | $3,795 |
| Renter’s insurance | — | $25 |
| Gross monthly | $5,522 | $3,820 |
| Principal paid, year-one average | ($362) | — |
| Net monthly cost | $5,160 | $3,820 |
| Cash at the door | $132,250 (20% down + 3% closing) | first, last and security |
Break-even: the year owning pulls ahead
We give both households the same starting cash, $132,250, and the same 30 years. The owner puts it into the house and pays the column on the left. The renter invests it at 4% and pays the column on the right, and whoever has the cheaper month invests the difference. Each year we sell the house on paper, pay 6.7% to get out, and compare what each household is worth. The owner is behind for 24 years and ahead from year 25. By year 10 the owner is −$95,100; by year 15, −$92,000.
| Year | Owner’s position after selling | Renter’s position | Owner ahead by |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $96,900 | $158,300 | −$61,400 |
| 3 | $140,300 | $212,100 | −$71,800 |
| 5 | $187,200 | $268,100 | −$80,800 |
| 7 | $238,200 | $326,300 | −$88,200 |
| 10 | $322,900 | $418,000 | −$95,100 |
| 15 | $490,500 | $582,500 | −$92,000 |
What moves the answer: rates and appreciation
The break-even year is not a fixed fact; it is a function of two numbers nobody controls. Here is the single-family case at three mortgage rates and three appreciation rates. The default is 3% appreciation, and 2% is on the table; West Palm Beach’s median moved +2.7% in the last year.
| Break-even year, single-family | 2% appreciation | 3% appreciation | 4% appreciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.50% mortgage | 18 | 10 | 6 |
| 7.37% (current) | beyond 30 | 25 | 13 |
| 7.50% mortgage | beyond 30 | 26 | 14 |
Read it this way: if rates fall to 5.5%, the break-even moves from year 25 to year 10 without the price changing. If appreciation stalls at 2%, it stretches to year beyond 30.
The condo case, which is a different conversation
The median West Palm Beach condo or townhouse closed at $240,500 this year, and the median condo lease was $2,000 (n=475). Gross cost to own is $2,550 a month: $1,328 principal and interest, $338 tax, $193 insurance, $100 interior maintenance, and a $591 median condo fee. The fee is the problem. It is 23% of the cost of owning, it is a pure expense, and it grows. On these defaults the owner does not pull ahead until year 13, and at 2% appreciation not until year 20.
| Break-even year, condo/townhouse | 2% appreciation | 3% appreciation | 4% appreciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5.50% mortgage | 9 | 6 | 4 |
| 7.37% (current) | 20 | 13 | 7 |
| 7.50% mortgage | 21 | 14 | 8 |
That is not “do not buy a condo in West Palm Beach.” It means the fee, not the price, decides the West Palm Beach condo case. A building with a $450 fee and funded reserves is a different calculation from one at $1,100 with an assessment pending. Our condo fee index for West Palm Beach shows the spread. Run the calculator with the actual fee before you decide.
Run your own numbers
Estimates for comparison only, not financial, tax or legal advice. Property tax uses West Palm Beach’s 2025 millage (20.4468 mills) with two $25,000 homestead exemptions and the 3% Save Our Homes cap. No mortgage-interest deduction is assumed; most Florida households take the standard deduction.
What we assumed, and why
- Prices: median closed single-family ($575,000, n=1,184) and condo/townhouse ($240,500, n=1,373), Jan 1 - Sep 30, 2026. BeachesMLS.
- Rents: median closed leases by property type over the last 13 months (169 single-family leases, 475 condominium leases). About 17% of West Palm Beach leases are furnished or seasonal, which lifts the medians; we did not adjust for it, so the rent side is if anything generous.
- Rate 7.37%, Mortgage News Daily 30-year fixed rate index, 2026-10-16. Term 30 years, 20% down.
- Property tax: 2025 total millage 20.4468 on the most common West Palm Beach taxing code, two $25,000 homestead exemptions, assessed value capped at 3% a year under Save Our Homes (s. 193.155, F.S.).
- Insurance: Palm Beach County average including wind, Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, July 2026. Association fees: PBP HOA and Condo Fee Index medians for West Palm Beach.
- Buyer closing costs 3% of price. Selling costs 6.7%: brokerage compensation assumed at 6%, which is negotiable, plus Florida documentary stamp tax on the deed at 0.7%.
- Appreciation 3% a year. Rent growth 3%. Insurance, fees and maintenance grow 3%. Cash earns 4%.
- Maintenance 1% of price a year for a house, 0.5% for a condo interior.
- No mortgage-interest deduction and no capital-gains exclusion are counted. Either would favor owning; we left them out.
See what your home is worth
Every move between these places starts with one number on the home you already own. Gia Freer prepares a written opinion of value by hand from our own BeachesMLS data, with the comparable sales attached. No automated estimate is published on this site.
Price my home correctly or read how we price a home first. or call (561) 395-8418. Conversations are confidential and there is no cost to having one.
Where the money goes next
- Closed prices and communities: West Palm Beach real estate.
- What the fee buys: West Palm Beach HOA fee index and condo fee index.
- The full cost stack against a neighboring city: Palm Beach vs West Palm Beach, West Palm Beach vs Fort Lauderdale, cost of living, city by city.
- Registered private schools in West Palm Beach, by grade band: 33 schools from the Florida Department of Education directory. Assigned public schools sit on each community fact sheet.
- Every city with a rent-vs-own page: rent vs own in South Florida.
- Selling the home someone else rents from you: what your home is worth.
Common questions
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in West Palm Beach in 2026?
Month to month, renting: the median single-family lease is $3,795 against a gross cost to own of $5,522 at 7.37%. Over time, owning: on our defaults the owner is ahead from year 25 on a house, year 13 on a condo.
Price my home correctly or read how we price a home first. Two cities, every input shown. The one figure this page cannot show you is your own; that takes a conversation: (561) 395-8418.
Sources and method
Based on information from BeachesMLS for September 2026 and for January 1, 2026 through September 30, 2026, retrieved October 18, 2026. Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Leases: BeachesMLS closed leases, 2025-09-01 to 2026-10-01, medians by property subtype where n ≥ 10. Mortgage: Mortgage News Daily 30-year fixed rate index. Millage: Palm Beach County and Broward County Property Appraisers, 2025 final rates. Homestead: ss. 196.031 and 193.155, F.S. Insurance: FLOIR Property Insurance Stability Unit report, July 2026. Fees: PBP HOA and condo fee indexes. Method: month-by-month wealth comparison, both households starting with the same cash, owner sold on paper each year at 6.7% cost; break-even is the first year the owner’s position equals or exceeds the renter’s. Estimates for comparison, not financial, tax or legal advice. Refreshed nightly with the underlying data.
Published by Gia Freer, Broker of Record at PBP Real Estate, LLC, licensed in Florida since 2000 (BK689801), brokerage license CQ1064615. This page was researched with AI assistance and reviewed by a licensed human before publication.
Common questions
Is it cheaper to rent or buy in West Palm Beach in 2026?
Month to month, renting: the median single-family lease is $3,795 against a gross cost to own of $5,522 at 7.37%. Over time, owning: on our defaults the owner is ahead from year 25 on a house, year 13 on a condo.
Free to reuse with attribution and a link to PBP Real Estate. Figures, tables and charts on this page may be quoted, screenshotted or embedded. Keep the source line and link to www.pbprealestate.com/rent-vs-own/west-palm-beach/. Aggregates only: no address, listing number or listing-level record is published here.
For sellers
Pricing a home is a skill. Start with the current competition and recent closed sales.
37.4% of active single-family house listings in West Palm Beach have a recorded asking price below their original list price.
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