A rent vs buy comparison is a calculation that measures your net worth after the same number of years of renting or of buying. Whether renting or buying leaves you better off depends mostly on how long you stay and how fast prices, rents and investments grow. Buying has big one-time costs on the way in and out, so it usually needs several years to catch up with renting and investing the money you'd otherwise have put into a home.
This calculator compares the two side by side and shows the break-even year: the year your net worth from buying overtakes your net worth from renting.
Rent vs buy calculator
The rent vs buy calculator starts with today's local numbers already filled in; change the price, rent, rate and how long you'd stay to match your own plans.
Rent vs buy calculator
Assumptions you can change
- Cash upfront to buyDown payment plus $4,641 closing costs
- $24,641
- Net worth if you buyThe home after selling costs, less the mortgage
- $197,724
- Net worth if you rentYour upfront cash and monthly savings, invested
- $254,554
- Break-even
- Not within 10 years
Year by year
| Year | Buy | Rent |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $2,976 | $43,379 |
| 2 | $21,780 | $62,946 |
| 3 | $41,236 | $83,382 |
| 4 | $61,366 | $104,727 |
| 5 | $82,195 | $127,028 |
| 6 | $103,747 | $150,329 |
| 7 | $126,049 | $174,680 |
| 8 | $149,127 | $200,131 |
| 9 | $173,009 | $226,737 |
| 10 | $197,724 | $254,554 |
Defaults are today's Waterloo Region median condo apartment price and condo fee, CMHC's average two-bedroom rent, and a typical five-year fixed rate. Buying counts property tax (1.1% a year), maintenance (1% a year), closing costs and mortgage insurance; first-time buyers use a 30-year amortization. Selling costs are an assumption, not a commission rate. Income tax isn't counted on either side. Growth and returns are guesses about the future: change them and see what moves.
What the calculator counts (and doesn't)
The rent vs buy calculator compares two versions of you after the same number of years.
If you buy, your net worth is the equity you'd walk away with: the home's value after growth, minus the mortgage you still owe, minus the costs of selling. Along the way it counts the money that goes out and doesn't come back:
- Mortgage interest (your payments that go to principal build equity, so they aren't a cost).
- Property tax, at 1.1% of the home's value a year.
- Maintenance, at 1% of the home's value a year.
- Closing costs on the way in, including Ontario land transfer tax and, with less than 20% down, the 8% Ontario retail sales tax on the mortgage insurance premium. See the full list in the closing costs guide.
- Selling costs on the way out, set at 5% of the sale price by default. That's an assumption covering legal fees, commission and other costs of selling, not a commission rate; change it to whatever you expect.
If you rent, your net worth is what you'd have by investing instead: the down payment and closing costs you didn't spend, plus, each month that owning costs more than renting, the difference. Rent rises each year by the rate you choose. In the months where renting costs more, the difference comes out of the renter's savings.
What it leaves out:
- Condo fees, home insurance and differences in utilities. On a condo, fees make buying cost more than the calculator shows.
- Income tax, on either side.
- The non-money side: stability, renovating the way you want, or the freedom to move for a job.
- Whether you'd actually invest the difference every month. The renting result assumes you do.
The results depend heavily on the growth rates you enter. Small changes in home price growth or investment return can move the break-even year by several years, so try a few scenarios.
Today's numbers in Waterloo Region
The table below shows the rent vs buy calculator's starting inputs for each city in Waterloo Region: the median sold price of condo apartments and freehold townhouses over the last 90 days, and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) average rent for a two-bedroom apartment from its latest October Rental Market Survey.
| City | Median condo apartment price | Median freehold townhouse price | CMHC average rent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchener | $336,000 | $628,000 | $1,632 |
| Waterloo | $400,000 | $665,000 | $1,842 |
| Cambridge | $370,000 | $615,000 | $1,857 |
| Woolwich | Too few sales | $621,000 | $1,444 |
| Wilmot | Too few sales | Too few sales | $1,229 |
| Wellesley | Too few sales | Too few sales | Not reported |
| North Dumfries | Too few sales | Too few sales | Not reported |
Median sold prices over the 90 days ending October 26, 2026; average rent from CMHC's October 2025 Rental Market Survey (purpose-built rentals, all unit sizes). Across the region, CMHC's average two-bedroom rent was $1,816.
CMHC's survey covers purpose-built rental buildings with three or more units, and it's taken each October. Rents for units in a newly listed condo, or for a unit that's just turned over, can be higher than the survey average, so check current listings for the kind of place you'd actually rent. For market detail by city, see Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge.
When buying comes out ahead
Buying a home tends to come out ahead of renting when:
- You stay a long time. The longer you own, the more years there are to spread the closing and selling costs over, and the more of your payment goes to principal.
- Home prices grow faster than your investments would. Your equity grows on the whole home's value, not just your down payment.
- Rents rise quickly. With a fixed rate, your mortgage payment stays the same for the term, while rent can keep going up. Ontario limits rent increases on many units, but not all; see the rent control guide.
- Owning is how you'd save. Mortgage payments are forced savings. If you wouldn't actually invest the difference as a renter, the renting result in the calculator is better than what you'd really end up with.
When renting comes out ahead
Renting tends to come out ahead of buying when:
- You might move within a few years. Land transfer tax, legal fees and selling costs can take years of price growth to recover. Selling early can leave a buyer behind a renter who invested.
- Rent is low compared to the price. When the rent on a home is a small fraction of what it would cost to buy, owning costs much more each month, and that gap goes to the renter's investments.
- Your investments would grow faster than the home. A higher return on savings, or slower price growth, pushes the break-even year further out or removes it.
- You value flexibility. Renting keeps your money liquid and your options open, and the landlord pays for repairs.
Neither answer is right for everyone. If buying looks close, the next question is what you'd qualify for; the stress test calculator and the first-time buyer guide cover that.