Compare renting and buying

Compares your net worth after buying versus renting and investing the difference - including buying costs, rates, levies and selling costs.

The home
Per month
Rates, levies, insurance and upkeep
The bond

%

%

Prime is 10.75% (stored SARB figure, 25 Sept 2026) - add your bank's margin, e.g. 11.75 for prime + 1.
Assumptions - change to suit

%

Rent and running costs. Assumption - defaults to current CPI (SARB)

%

Assumption - defaults to current CPI (SARB)

%

Assumption - defaults to CPI + 4%, a typical balanced-fund target

%

Assumption - agent commission and other costs
Over10 years
3 years25 years
See whether renting or buying leaves you better off
Enter the price, the rent and the monthly costs, then press Compare.
  • Who is ahead - the buyer or the renter
  • Each one's net worth at the end
  • A year-by-year comparison
About these figures

Worked out from the figures you enter and the published rates and tables shown; results marked as estimates depend on assumptions. General information, not financial, credit, tax or legal advice - Property HQ is not an authorised financial services provider or a registered credit provider, and banks do their own affordability assessment under the National Credit Act. Confirm the figures for your own case with your bank, conveyancer or a registered tax practitioner.

Where the figures come from

Tax, transfer duty and CGT tables from SARS; prime, repo and CPI from the South African Reserve Bank; minimum living costs from the National Credit Act regulations; exchange rates from the European Central Bank (via Frankfurter).

Frequently asked questions

1 quick answer - tap a question to open it
Is it better to rent or buy?

It depends on how long you'll stay, the rent compared with the price, interest rates and what you'd do with the deposit if you rented. Buying usually wins over longer periods, but the costs of buying and selling make short stays expensive.