With last year’s price and mortgage rate increases, the estimated monthly house payment for a median-priced, three-bedroom home has risen, according to a new analysis from RealtyTrac. But, though affordability levels have fallen, buying a home was still cheaper than renting in 91 percent of the 325 counties included in the report. Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, said the monthly cost of owning a home is still less than renting in the majority of markets but a combination of rising home prices and increasing interest rates during the second half of 2013 has caused the cost of owning a home using traditional financing to jump over the last year. In fact, the estimated monthly payment – including mortgage, insurance, taxes, maintenance, and subtracting the estimated income tax benefit – increased an average of 21 percent from a year earlier. The increase was driven, in part, by a 10 percent spike in median prices across the 325 counties included in the analysis. More here.