Rent vs Buy Calculator

It depends on four figures more than on anything else: how fast the price grows, what the same money would earn if invested, the loan rate, and how long you hold the home. The calculator shows the value of each at which the answer flips on your own inputs. With prices at 25 to 30 years of rent in the large cities (gross yields of 3% to 4.6% by ANAROCK’s Q2 2026 count) and loans near 8%, buying usually needs price growth above the RBI index’s recent 3.6% to 4.2% a year, or a long holding period, to beat renting and investing.

It follows two people with the same money through every month. The buyer pays the down payment, stamp duty, registration, brokerage and the loan fee, then the EMI and the upkeep. The renter keeps that upfront money invested and adds, or draws, the difference between the owner’s monthly cost and the rent. At the end the home is sold, the selling cost, the loan outstanding and the capital gains tax are paid, and the owner’s cash is compared with the renter’s invested money plus the deposit. Whoever holds more is ahead.

The first year in which the owner, if they sold then, would hold more than the renter. The calculator runs thirty years and reports it. Transaction costs make the early years expensive for the buyer: stamp duty and brokerage at the door, brokerage and capital gains tax at the exit. If the break-even year is later than you expect to hold the home, renting is ahead on the figures.

No, not on a home you live in. Under section 202 of the Income-tax Act, 2025 (formerly 115BAC), the new regime allows no deduction for interest on a self-occupied home, none for the principal, and no HRA exemption on rent. The old regime allows up to ₹2 lakh of interest a year under section 22(2) (formerly 24(b)) and the principal within the ₹1.5 lakh limit of section 123 (formerly 80C), a limit shared with provident fund and insurance. Set the regime on the calculator and it counts only what your regime allows.

The price divided by a year’s rent: a ₹1 crore flat renting at ₹30,000 a month is 27.8. It is the same thing as the gross rental yield turned upside down (3.6%). A widely used rule of thumb says below about 15 favours buying and above about 20 favours renting; it is a rule of thumb, not a law, and the full calculation is what counts. ANAROCK’s Q2 2026 yields put the big cities at 3.2% to 4.6%, that is ratios of 22 to 31.

Stamp duty is a State levy, broadly 2% to 7% of the value, plus a registration fee; some States charge women less and some cap the fee. The rate is published by your State’s registration department, and the duty is charged on the higher of the price and the circle rate. The calculator takes a single percentage for both; the default of 6% is an assumption to replace with your State’s figure. RBI’s rules do not let the bank lend against these costs.

The return the buyer’s upfront money and the monthly difference would actually earn, after tax, if it stayed invested for the whole period. SBI pays 6.25% on one-year and 6.40% on two-year deposits for the public (rates effective 15 December 2025, read 15 October 2026), before tax. The Nifty 50 total return index has averaged about 12.4% a year since 1999, with deep falls on the way. The default of 7% is a middle figure; the calculator shows the return at which the answer flips, so you can see how much rides on it.

RBI’s All-India House Price Index grew 3.6% in the year to June 2026 and 4.2% in the quarter before, across 18 cities. Particular projects and streets have done far more and far less. The default is 4%; the calculator reports the growth rate at which buying and renting tie, and tests 2 percentage points either side.

Yes. A home bought now and sold after 24 months is a long-term asset; the gain over the cost (price, stamp duty, brokerage and improvements) is taxed at 12.5% plus cess under section 197 (formerly 112), with no indexation. Sold within 24 months, the gain is taxed at your slab. The tax can be deferred by buying another home within the window of section 82 (formerly 54) or through capital-gain bonds; the calculator deducts it because it compares cash in hand.

No. It is arithmetic on your own inputs, computed in your browser: the break-even year, the four flip points found by search, twelve alternative cases and the three bundles. The sentences are built from those numbers by fixed rules. Nothing you type is sent anywhere, and nothing is stored.