Buying is now cheaper than renting in over one-third of Australian properties, aided by eight months of record low-interest rates, property researcher CoreLogic found. The company’s analysis showed that it is cheaper to repay home loans than to rent for 36.3 percent of Australians properties, up from the 33.9 percent reported in Feb. 2020. CoreLogic Head of Australia Research Eliza Owen said the figures reflected the significantly lower costs for mortgage debt since the onset of COVID-19. “This is one of the factors that may have boosted sales activity coming out of COVID-19 restrictions in 2020,” Owen said. “If it makes more financial sense to pay for a mortgage than rent, renting households may have been triggered to look for something to buy as interest rates have fallen.” The data shows the stark contrast in property markets between state, city, and regional areas as Sydney and Melbourne remain the toughest …