Rent vs Buy Calculator (Australia)

Compare your net wealth if you buy a home, or rent and invest the deposit and any savings instead. Every default below is an assumption you can change.

Buying

Home price ($)

Deposit ($)Cash you put in. The rest is borrowed.

State or territory (for stamp duty)

I'll live in it (owner occupier) First home buyer

Other upfront costs ($)Assumption: conveyancing, inspections, loan fees. Add lenders mortgage insurance here if your deposit is under 20%.

Loan interest rate (% a year)Assumption: stays the same for the whole period.

Loan term (years)

Owning costs (a year, today's dollars)

Council and water rates ($ a year)Assumption: check your council for the real figure.

Strata levies ($ a year)Units and townhouses usually pay strata.

Home insurance ($ a year)Assumption: building insurance.

Maintenance (% of home value a year)Assumption: repairs and upkeep, rising with the home's value.

Rates, strata and insurance rise by (% a year)Assumption: roughly in line with inflation.

Home price growth (% a year)Assumption: nobody knows future prices; try a few values.

Selling costs (% of sale price)Assumption: agent commission and marketing if you sold at the end.

Renting

Rent ($ a week)For a similar home.

Rent increases (% a year)Assumption: the same rise every year.

Investing and time frame

Investment return (% a year, before tax)Assumption: earned on the renter's invested deposit and savings (and the buyer's, if owning is cheaper).

Tax on investment earnings (% of earnings)Assumption: share of each year's earnings lost to tax. Enter 0 to compare pre-tax returns. Your home is CGT-free.

Years to compare

Inflation, for today's dollars (% a year)2.5% is the middle of the Reserve Bank's 2–3% inflation target and ASIC's default for today's dollars. Change it to try another rate.

After 10 years

–

In today's dollars–

Net wealth if you buy–

Net wealth if you rent and invest–

Buy and rent, in today's dollars–

Break-even year–

Starting out

Stamp duty–

Upfront cash to buy–

Loan–

Monthly loan repayment–

Monthly owning costs (first year)–

Monthly rent (first year)–

Estimate only. This calculator is not intended to be relied on for the purposes of making a decision about a financial product. You should consider obtaining advice from a financial services licensee (a licensed financial adviser) before making any financial decisions. Stamp duty uses state revenue office rates checked 15 Oct 2026. Everything else is an assumption you enter: rates, growth, rent and returns are held steady, which real life won't be. Net wealth for buying is the home's value less selling costs and the loan left, plus any investments. A main residence is generally exempt from capital gains tax; investment earnings are taxed using the rate you enter.

Net wealth year by year

Year	Home value	Loan left	Buy: net wealth	Rent: net wealth	Buying ahead by

Purpose, assumptions and limitations

What it's for: comparing, under assumptions you choose, your net wealth if you buy a home with your net wealth if you rent and invest the money you'd otherwise spend on buying. It shows which assumptions matter most; it doesn't predict prices or recommend any investment, loan or property.

Today's dollars: Net wealth is in future dollars, after the number of years you choose. The in today's dollars figure divides it by 1 plus the inflation rate for each year until then (the present value), so you can see what it would buy at today's prices. It uses 2.5% a year unless you change it: the middle of the Reserve Bank's 2–3% inflation target, and the default set by ASIC Corporations (Generic Calculators) Instrument 2026/41 (section 6), which asks calculators like this one to show it for amounts 2 or more years away.

Default assumptions and why they're reasonable: an $800,000 NSW home with a 20% deposit (enough to avoid lenders mortgage insurance), a 6% loan over 30 years, $650 a week rent, home prices growing 5% and rents 4% a year, costs rising 3% a year, and investments returning 7% a year before tax with 15% of earnings lost to tax. These are illustrations, not forecasts: every one of them is labelled as an assumption beside its field and can be changed. Stamp duty uses each state's published rates.

Limitations and their effect: every rate is held steady for the whole period, which real life won't be, and the result is very sensitive to home price growth and investment returns: a point or two either way can flip the answer (the FAQs below show how much). Tax on investments is a flat share of earnings, not your real tax; lenders mortgage insurance, moving costs and the cost of selling investments aren't added.

Not for product decisions: This calculator is not intended to be relied on for the purposes of making a decision about a financial product. You should consider obtaining advice from a financial services licensee (a licensed financial adviser) before making any financial decisions.

Rent vs Buy: how it works

Checked 15 Oct 2026. Stamp duty uses each state revenue office's rates; every other figure is an assumption you can change.

The calculator follows two versions of you, month by month. The buyer pays the deposit, stamp duty (worked out for your state) and other upfront costs, then the loan repayments plus council rates, strata, insurance and maintenance. The renter invests the same upfront cash on day one and pays rent. Each month, whoever has the cheaper housing invests the difference.

At the end, the buyer's net wealth is the home's value less selling costs and the loan still owing, plus any investments. The renter's is their investments. The break-even year is the first year buying comes out ahead and stays ahead.

Every number except stamp duty is an assumption you choose: home price growth, rent rises, investment returns, interest rates and costs are held steady, which real life won't be. Try a few values. Your home is generally exempt from capital gains tax; the renter's investment earnings are reduced by the tax rate you enter (0% compares pre-tax returns). Lenders mortgage insurance isn't added automatically: put an estimate in other upfront costs if your deposit is under 20%.

General information only, not financial, tax or credit advice. Check your situation with the ATO, your state revenue office or a licensed adviser.

Rent vs Buy FAQs

Is it better to rent or buy in Australia?

It depends mostly on home price growth versus investment returns. With our example assumptions ($800,000 NSW home, 20% deposit, 6% loan, $650 a week rent, 5% growth, 7% returns taxed at 15%), buying is ahead by $112,914 after 10 years. At 4% growth the gap is only $3,115, and at 3% growth renting and investing is ahead by $97,391.

How long until buying beats renting?

In the example it takes 5 years: by year 4 the renter is still ahead, but from year 5 buying stays ahead. Upfront costs, such as $30,187 NSW stamp duty on $800,000, are why buying usually starts behind.

Does being a first home buyer change the answer?

Yes, through stamp duty. A NSW first home buyer pays no duty on an $800,000 home, so the upfront cash falls from $193,187 to $163,000. In the example, buying is then ahead by $166,719 after 10 years and from year 2.

Does the calculator include tax?

Partly. Your home is generally exempt from capital gains tax, so its growth isn't taxed. The renter's investment earnings lose the share you enter to tax: at 15% the renter has $622,036 after 10 years in the example, and at 0% (pre-tax) $674,213, which shrinks buying's lead to $60,736.

What is the result in today's dollars?

In the example, buying's $112,914 lead after 10 years is worth about $88,208 in today's dollars, at 2.5% inflation a year. The net wealth figures, $734,949 if you buy and $622,036 if you rent and invest, are about $574,141 and $485,933 in today's dollars. The calculator shows these under every result, and you can change the inflation rate.

What investment return should I use?

It's an assumption you choose; no one knows future returns. In the example, a 5% return instead of 7% makes buying $188,995 ahead after 10 years instead of $112,914. Use a return you'd realistically earn after fees, and set the tax rate to suit how you'd invest.