Rent vs Buy
Should you buy, or keep renting and invest?
Every assumption is editable — the honest answer is "it depends", so try your own numbers. This weighs the equity you'd build by owning against the pot you'd grow by renting and investing the difference.
Your situation
Ownership running costs (year 1)
Rates, insurance and maintenance have been rising faster than general inflation — this model grows each one every year (set the rates below).
The assumptions
NZ long-run averages over the last 20 years. Editing any figure keeps your custom numbers.
Economists expect slower growth ahead than the ~5.5% p.a. of the last 20 years.
A diversified growth fund has averaged roughly 6% p.a. long-term.
NZ rents have risen about 4% p.a. on average over 20 years.
Investment return is what you'd earn if you invested the deposit plus the monthly cash you'd save by renting instead of owning.
After 10 years, on these assumptions
Buying comes out ahead
by $233,764 in net worth.
If you buy
If you rent + invest
One thing the numbers don't show
At the end, a buyer owns a freehold home and stops paying to live there. A renter with the bigger pot still has to fund rent for the rest of their life — including through retirement — which eats into that lead over time. Weigh the security and stopped payments of owning against the flexibility of renting.
Net worth over time
- Buy — net equity
- Rent + invest
This is a simplified model: it ignores tax, transaction costs on buying and selling, and the non-financial value of owning (security, freedom to renovate) or renting (flexibility). It also assumes steady returns — real markets move in jumps. The result swings hard on the growth and investment-return assumptions, so treat it as a way to test your thinking, not a verdict. This is information, not advice.