Compare My SuperCompare MySuper
The big Australian question

Rent or buy?

The honest version: not just the mortgage, but stamp duty, ownership costs, and what the renter could earn investing the difference. See who's actually ahead — and by how much.

Rent vs buy calculator
Compares your total wealth after a set time if you buy, versus if you rent the same place and invest the difference.

Over 10 years, you'd be roughly

$17,616

better off by renting & investing — though that's close enough to call a draw.

Renting wins

Your wealth after 10 years

If you buyhome equity + savings, after sale
$619,002
If you rentdeposit + savings, invested
$636,618
Upfront to buy

$192,912

20% deposit + costs
Stamp duty

$30,412

New South Wales
Mortgage

$3,837/mo

P&I, 30-yr loan
Home value at 10yr

$1,184,195

from $800,000
Total rent paid

$392,779

over the period
Total interest

$356,043

if you buy

Modelled monthly in nominal dollars: home growth 4% / yr, rent growth 3% / yr, investments 7% / yr, ownership costs 1.1% of value / yr, 2.5% selling costs, 6% mortgage. The renter invests the deposit and any monthly saving; the buyer's wealth is home equity net of selling costs. Rent vs buy is hugely sensitive to growth and how long you stay, and this ignores tax, negative gearing and first-home grants. A guide, not advice.