The gap between the average rent for four- and five-star apartments in Fairfield County and the average monthly mortgage payment has widened to $2,323 per month in early 2026, according to the latest data from CoStar. The gap highlights the affordability challenge of buying a home, especially for first-time homebuyers, driving demand toward apartment rentals.
Like other Tri-state markets close to New York City, mortgage payments were more expensive than luxury apartment rents even before the pandemic-induced residential market dislocation. From 2015 to 2019, the average mortgage premium was 11% higher than the average rent for four- and five-star apartments, CoStar found.
Calculating a typical monthly mortgage payment — based on a 10% down payment including private mortgage insurance, homeowners’ insurance and property taxes — shows the significant increase in the total cost of purchasing a home.
At year-end 2025, the calculated monthly mortgage payment was $5,423, 107% higher than the price at year-end 2019. Compare that to the average rent for the four-and-five-star apartment segment, which has risen only 20% since 2019 to $3,099 per month but remains more than $2,300 below the monthly mortgage payment, a discount of 43%.
However, the onset of the pandemic led to dramatic shifts in the residential market, with median home sale prices rising precipitously across the United States. In Stamford, that led to an even wider gulf between mortgage payments and monthly apartment rent. The affordability issue was compounded by the 2022 interest rate increase, which led to significantly higher monthly payments for homebuyers.
“The reasons for the enormous gap in luxury apartment rents and a monthly mortgage are the high median prices in homes and interest rates,” said Jared Koeck, associate director of market analytics for CoStar. “The enormous ballooning in prices for homes is really affecting the folks who are trying to buy a home right now.”
However, the gap could’ve been much higher if it weren’t for the thousands of apartments coming on line in the last few years, he added.
New supply, at least in part, has helped moderate apartment rent increases. Stamford saw an all-time high in the number of apartments coming to market in 2024, with more than 2,200 new units. Construction continued unabated in 2025, with more than 2,000 unit completions, and 2026 is expected to have a similar number of apartments come to market by year-end.
