Should I Rent or Buy Right Now?
A personalized answer based on your numbers - not a mortgage company's.
Saved planning info: HomeCostClarity can remember planning assumptions on this device so you do not have to retype them in other calculators.
Stored only in your browser. No names, addresses, email, phone numbers, account data, or server sync.
Your Renting Situation
The Home You're Considering
Defaults set - click to customize.
Defaults set - click to customize.
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Rent vs Buy in 2026 - An Honest Look at Both Sides
The rent versus buy question depends on local home prices, current mortgage rates, and how long someone plans to stay.
How Long Do You Need to Stay for Buying to Make Financial Sense?
Most analyses find buying makes more financial sense after 3 to 7 years, depending on local prices, rates, and appreciation.
About this calculator
Last updated: 2026-07-07. Last reviewed: 2026-07-08. This calculator is educational only and estimates outcomes from the inputs, assumptions, and source data shown on the page. It does not provide financial, legal, mortgage, tax, insurance, real estate, or professional advice.
Assumptions
Uses entered rent, price, down payment, loan term, timeline, appreciation, rent growth, investment return, taxes, insurance, maintenance, and selling-cost assumptions.
Sources
Uses Freddie Mac via FRED, FHFA appreciation data, property-tax and insurance references, and modeled investment-return assumptions entered or shown on the page.
Data freshness
Rate, appreciation, rent growth, tax, and insurance assumptions affect the comparison. The result includes sensitivity notes for the assumptions with the most influence.
Is it better to rent or buy a home right now?
Whether renting or buying is better depends on local home prices relative to rents, how long you plan to stay, current mortgage rates, and how you would invest a down payment if you rented.
What is the opportunity cost of a down payment?
The opportunity cost is the investment return that money could have earned if it were invested instead of used for a home purchase.
How does the rent vs buy breakeven work?
The breakeven point is the number of years after which the total financial outcome of buying exceeds the total outcome of renting.