inacioluc via Getty Images Apartment and condo buildings in downtown Vancouver. Rapid house price growth in many parts of the country means renting has become cheaper than buying on a national level for the first time in years.

MONTREAL — In the long-running debate on renting versus buying, the scales have tipped a little towards renting — at least in Canada's largest cities. Rapid house price growth a few years ago, combined with rising interest rates today, mean renting has become cheaper than buying on a national level for the first time in years, National Bank of Canada said in a report this week. The report found the mortgage payment on a median two-bedroom condo had risen to around $2,000 in the fourth quarter of 2018, or about $150 more per month than the rent on a two-bedroom rental condo. Watch: Canada's most expensive condo gets a major price cut. Story continues below.

But that national data hides the fact that things look very different in Canada's smaller cities than they do in the larger ones. In reality, only in Canada's three largest metro areas — Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver — is renting cheaper than buying. While both house prices and rental rates accelerated from about 2015 onwards, house prices rose much faster, and mortgage payments left rental rates in the dust.

National Bank Financial