With housing prices down significantly in many parts of the country and interest rates low, it may be an affordable time for twentysomethings to buy that first home.

    In some instances, the price of owning can be comparable to renting in the long run. But a lot of uncertainty still remains about the housing market and the economy -- making the decision to buy more complicated.

    Nicole Stivers, a 24-year-old who works in public relations in Contra Costa County, Calif., purchased her first home with her fiancé in February. They were able to capitalize on what she calls a 'perfect storm' -- job stability, a desire to settle down, a surge in home foreclosures and the $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers.

    Still, the move was not without its concerns. 'Would we be able to afford this if we both lost our jobs? Do we have enough for a down payment? Do I have enough for moving? It's really nerve-racking when you're first doing it,' says Ms. Stivers.

    Here are some questions to consider when deciding if buying or renting is the right choice for you:

    How long do you plan to stay in your home? 'There are high transaction costs associated with buying and selling' a house, says Dean Baker, co-director at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, so home buyers should plan to stay put for at least four to five years.

    The reasoning? The costs for buying and then selling a home -- which can include a real-estate agent's fee, a transfer fee, closing costs, and inspector and surveyor fees -- could add up to about 10% of the sale price, or roughly 1? years worth of rent. 'If you average that over 10 years, it is not that big a deal,' says Mr. Baker. 'But if you average it over, say two years, you're paying an awful lot of money to own a house for a short period of time.'

    Can you handle the monthly expense? While a monthly mortgage payment may be comparable in some cases to a monthly rent, there are other expenses to consider.

    To get a feel for the financial burden you'll be taking on -- and to see if you can handle it -- 'practice' making payments. Each month, set aside projected mortgage and property-tax payments, maintenance costs, utilities and any other home-related expenses into a separate savings account, says Gary Smola, a certified financial planner with financial-educational firm Financial Finesse.

    What's the price-to-rent ratio? Home prices have come down significantly in some areas of the country, but 'nobody knows what tomorrow's going to bring in the housing market,' says Daniel Morris, a certified public accountant in San Jose, Calif.

    To determine whether it makes more financial sense to buy or rent in your area, compare home sales prices with the cost of renting a similar place.

    Divide the price of the home by the total cost of rent for one year. If the result is more than 20, 'I'd be very concerned that the price [of the home] might fall more,' says Mr. Baker, and you should consider waiting to buy. If it's 15 or below, he says, 'you're probably reasonably safe' with prices holding steady or growing.

    What is your job and relationship status? Twentysomethings are still getting a grasp on their futures and a constantly changing lifestyle might require the flexibility of renting.

    But 'if your career stability is strong, you are comfortable doing what you're doing and you are committed in some form to your lifestyle,' Mr. Morris says, buying a home becomes a more attractive option.

    如今全美很多地方的房?jī)r(jià)都有了大幅下跌，銀行的利率又很低，似乎正是80后們購(gòu)置人生第一套房產(chǎn)的好時(shí)機(jī)。

    有些情況下，買(mǎi)房跟長(zhǎng)期租房的花費(fèi)相差無(wú)幾。不過(guò)樓市和經(jīng)濟(jì)依然有很多的不確定因素──所以要做出決定還是挺復(fù)雜的事情。

    妮科爾·斯蒂弗斯（Nicole Stivers）現(xiàn)年24歲，在加利福尼亞康特拉科斯塔縣（Contra Costa County）從事公關(guān)工作，今年2月跟未婚夫買(mǎi)下了他們的第一套房產(chǎn)。她稱目前的現(xiàn)狀為"完美風(fēng)暴"──他們兩人工作穩(wěn)定、希望安定下來(lái)，目前有大量的房產(chǎn)喪失止贖權(quán)，而且初次購(gòu)房者可享受8,000美元的稅收減免──他們正好可以抓住這一時(shí)機(jī)。

    當(dāng)然，他們做出這個(gè)決定也不完全就是高枕無(wú) 的。妮科爾說(shuō)，"如果我們雙雙失業(yè)，還供得起房嗎？我們的錢(qián)夠首付嗎？我的錢(qián)夠搬家嗎？頭一次買(mǎi)房可真是傷腦筋。"

    在決定買(mǎi)房還是租房最適合你之前，或許可以先考慮以下這些問(wèn)題：

    你打算在新買(mǎi)的房子里住多久？經(jīng)濟(jì)與政策研究中心（Center for Economic and Policy Research）聯(lián)席主任迪安·貝克（Dean Baker）說(shuō)，"買(mǎi)賣(mài)房產(chǎn)交易費(fèi)用很高，"因此如果打算購(gòu)房的話，至少要打算住個(gè)四五年才劃算。

    原因何在呢？買(mǎi)了房子再賣(mài)掉所需的費(fèi)用──包括房產(chǎn)中介費(fèi)、過(guò)戶費(fèi)、買(mǎi)賣(mài)手續(xù)費(fèi)、驗(yàn)房師和估價(jià)師的費(fèi)用──雜七雜八加在一起大約是房?jī)r(jià)的10%,或者大致相當(dāng)于一年半的房租。貝克說(shuō)，"如果你把這個(gè)費(fèi)用分?jǐn)偟?0年，那就不算什么大數(shù)目，不過(guò)如果要分?jǐn)偟奖热鐑赡辏�那就意味著，你要為短時(shí)間擁有一個(gè)房子付出很大的價(jià)錢(qián)。"

    每月所需費(fèi)用你可以承擔(dān)嗎？雖然有些情況下，月供跟你每月租房的費(fèi)用差不多，不過(guò)買(mǎi)了房子之后，除了月供之外，還會(huì)產(chǎn)生其他一些費(fèi)用。

    要切身體會(huì)買(mǎi)房后的經(jīng)濟(jì)負(fù)擔(dān)──也是為了看看你能否承擔(dān)得起──"演練"一下每月還款吧。理財(cái)教育公司Financial Finesse的注冊(cè)理財(cái)規(guī)劃師加里·斯莫拉（Gary Smola）說(shuō)，可以每個(gè)月把預(yù)期的月供、房產(chǎn)稅、維修費(fèi)用、公共事業(yè)費(fèi)及其他與房子相關(guān)的費(fèi)用單獨(dú)存入一個(gè)賬戶。

    房屋租售比如何？加利福尼亞圣何塞的注冊(cè)公共會(huì)計(jì)師丹尼爾·莫里斯（Daniel Morris）說(shuō)，在美國(guó)有些地區(qū)，房產(chǎn)的價(jià)格跌得非常厲害，不過(guò)"誰(shuí)也不知道房產(chǎn)市場(chǎng)下一步走勢(shì)如何。"

    要想判斷你所在地區(qū)是買(mǎi)房劃算還是租房劃算，可以將房?jī)r(jià)與同類(lèi)房屋的租價(jià)做一個(gè)比對(duì)。

    貝克認(rèn)為，如果將房?jī)r(jià)除以一年的租價(jià)得出的結(jié)果大于20,"我就會(huì)擔(dān)心房?jī)r(jià)極有可能還會(huì)再跌，"你就應(yīng)該考慮再觀望些時(shí)候了。他說(shuō)，如果結(jié)果小于等于15,"買(mǎi)入應(yīng)該還是相當(dāng)安全的，"因?yàn)榉績(jī)r(jià)會(huì)保持穩(wěn)定，甚至還會(huì)上升。

    你目前的工作如何，跟伴侶的關(guān)系如何？80后人群還是在事業(yè)打拼階段，個(gè)人生活方面也經(jīng)常會(huì)有變動(dòng)，也許還是租房這種靈活的方式更適合他們。

    莫里斯說(shuō)，不過(guò)，"如果你的工作非常穩(wěn)定，你對(duì)現(xiàn)狀非常滿意……個(gè)人生活方面也相對(duì)穩(wěn)定，"那么買(mǎi)房就是更有吸引力的選擇。