01 Renting
What the renter's invested money earns a year
02 Buying
$14,000 paid once: property transfer tax, legal and inspection. Work out yours with the closing costs calculator.
03 Cost of owning
$175 a month
$583 a month, as a share of the price
Owning in year one: $4,408 a month, against $2,500 in rent.
04 Time and growth
How long you stay
Years
$37,630 on a $940,741 sale in year 10
Vancouver price growth, history
Tap a figure to use it
Source: Greater Vancouver REALTORS® MLS® Home Price Index, growth per year, compounded. Past growth does not guarantee future growth.
Net worth, year by year
Buying against renting over 30 years
Move across the chart to read any year. Where the green line crosses the blue, owning has caught up.
Your horizon
Year 10
Buying
$496,823
Renting
$491,732
If you rent
Invest the difference at 5%
The renter keeps the $154,000 a buyer would spend on day one and invests it, then invests the gap in every month owning would have cost more. Where that money sits decides how much tax comes off.
In a TFSA
$523,808
No tax on the growth
Non-registered
$491,732
After capital gains tax
Why the tax matters+
Only the growth is taxed, never the money you put in. In a non-registered account, this page assumes half the growth is taxable at a 40% marginal rate, as if it were all sold in year 10. Inside a TFSA the growth is tax-free, but contribution room is limited, so a large down payment may not fit.
The owner's home is a principal residence, and the gain on a principal residence is generally not taxed. That is why no tax comes off the buying side. Confirm your own situation with an accountant.
How it works
How to compare buying and renting in Vancouver
Compare net worth, not monthly payments. Follow the same money down both paths: the buyer pays the mortgage and every cost of owning and keeps the equity, the renter pays rent and invests what the buyer would have spent. For an $800,000 home with 20% down at 4.50%, against $3,000 a month in rent, after 10 years the buyer has $567,798 and the renter $533,182, and buying pulls ahead in year 7.
| Cost | Buying | Renting |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | Mortgage | Rent |
| Carrying | Tax, strata, insurance, upkeep | None |
| Up front | Down payment, closing costs | Invested |
| At the end | Cost to sell | None |
| Kept | Equity | Portfolio |
| Tax on gain | Generally none | Yes, unless TFSA |
Interest, carrying costs and the costs to buy and sell are money paid away. Mortgage principal is not: it comes back as equity.
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Owning, month one | $5,009 |
| Rent, month one | $3,000 |
| Cash on day one | $176,000 |
| Buying, net worth | $567,798 |
| Renting, net worth | $533,182 |
| Break-even | Year 7 |
Assumes rent rising 3% a year, home prices growing 3% a year, a 5% investment return, property tax of 0.30% and upkeep of 1% of the price a year, strata of $450 and insurance of $150 a month rising 3% a year (tax and upkeep follow the home's value), 2% to buy and 4% to sell. Mortgage payment $3,542.23 a month over 25 years.
Why the break-even year matters most
Buying costs money up front and again when you sell, and early mortgage payments are mostly interest. Those costs need years of equity and price growth to pay back. The break-even year is when owning catches up with renting and investing. Stay past it and owning usually pulls further ahead. Leave before it and renting would have left you with more.
Opportunity cost and price growth
A down payment in a home is money not invested elsewhere, so the renter in this model invests it. The price growth figures come from past Greater Vancouver Home Price Index data. Past growth does not guarantee future growth, so try a lower rate too. Compare the monthly cost in the mortgage calculator.
Questions
Frequently asked
Is it better to buy or rent in Vancouver?
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It depends on how long you stay, what the home costs to carry against what you pay in rent, and what your money would earn if you did not buy. Buying tends to win the longer you hold, because equity and price growth compound while the one-time costs of buying and selling get spread over more years. Renting can win over short stays, or when renting is much cheaper than owning and you actually invest the difference. Put your own numbers into the calculator above to see which side comes out ahead for you.
How do you compare buying vs renting?
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Compare net worth, not monthly payments. This calculator follows two people with the same money. The buyer pays the mortgage and every cost of owning and builds equity. The renter pays rent, invests the down payment and the closing costs on day one, then invests the difference every month owning would have cost more. Whoever has more money at the end, after the cost of selling and any tax on investments, comes out ahead.
What is the break-even point for buying a home?
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The break-even point is the first year your net worth as an owner, after the cost of selling, catches up with what you would have as a renter who invested instead. Before that year, the costs of buying and selling and the interest-heavy early mortgage payments leave the owner behind. The calculator marks that year on the chart and shows it beside the verdict.
What are the hidden costs of owning a home?
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Beyond the mortgage payment, owners pay property tax, home insurance, strata fees on a condo or townhouse, and upkeep and repairs. There are also one-time costs: property transfer tax, legal fees and inspections when you buy, and the costs of selling when you leave. Interest, carrying costs and the costs to buy and sell are money that does not come back, which is why the calculator counts them against owning.
What is opportunity cost in buy vs rent?
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Opportunity cost is what your money could have earned somewhere else. A down payment tied up in a home is not invested in the market, so a fair comparison assumes the renter invests that money instead and lets it grow. The investment return slider sets that rate. A higher return makes renting look better, a lower one makes buying look better.
How long should you stay to make buying worth it?
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At least until the break-even year the calculator shows for your numbers. Short stays rarely work, because the costs of buying and selling eat most of the equity built in the first few years. The longer you stay past the break-even year, the further ahead owning usually gets, as long as the home holds or grows its value.
Does rent count toward building wealth?
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No. Rent pays for a place to live and none of it comes back. A renter builds wealth only by investing the money they would otherwise have put into a home, consistently, every month. The calculator assumes the renter does exactly that. If you would spend the difference instead, the renting result on this page is better than real life.
Is a mortgage payment the same as paying rent?
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Only partly. The interest portion of a mortgage payment is a cost, like rent. The principal portion pays down your debt, so it stays yours as equity. Early in a mortgage most of each payment is interest, and the share going to principal grows every year. That is why the calculator counts interest as money paid away but treats principal as savings.
How much will a Vancouver home appreciate?
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Nobody knows. The calculator shows how Greater Vancouver prices have grown in the past, by property type, from the Home Price Index, and lets you pick a rate. Past growth does not guarantee future growth. Try a lower rate as well as a higher one and see whether buying still makes sense for you.
Do you pay tax when you sell your home in Canada?
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Generally not on your principal residence. The principal residence exemption means the gain on the home you live in is usually not taxed, which is why the calculator takes no tax off the owner’s home. A renter’s investments in a non-registered account are taxed on their growth, and the calculator shows both a TFSA and a taxable result. Confirm your own situation with an accountant.
What does this buy vs rent calculator assume?
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A fixed-rate mortgage with Canadian semi-annual compounding over a 25-year amortization, CMHC insurance added to the mortgage under 20% down, property tax and upkeep as a percentage of the purchase price, rent rising by the rate you set each year, and the renter investing every dollar the buyer would have spent. A non-registered account is taxed on half its growth at a 40% marginal rate. Every input is yours to change.
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Reviewed by Kyle Mark *PREC, REALTOR®, eXp Realty, Vancouver. Updated October 2026.
Estimates only, not financial, tax or investment advice. Payments assume a fixed rate compounded semi-annually, as Canadian fixed-rate mortgages are. Past price growth does not guarantee future growth. Confirm every figure with your lender, accountant or advisor.
Kyle Mark Personal Real Estate Corporation, eXp Realty