Renting or buying: the cheaper one depends on how long you stay. Rent vs buy in Australia: compare the true cost of renting and buying over the years you'd stay, with buying and selling costs, interest, upkeep and price growth. See when buying starts to win.
Costs on top of the price
A$39,508
Moving home · New South Wales ·
What do you want to work out?
Whether renting or buying works out cheaper over the years you'd stay.
Over 7 years, renting works out cheaper by about
Rent paid
A$276,768True cost of buying
A$289,197Home worth in 7 years
A$1,168,380Interest paid
A$280,026Buying and selling costs
A$67,242Yours after selling
A$503,112True cost of buying = buying costs, interest, upkeep and selling costs, plus what your A$277,008 deposit and costs could have earned as savings, minus the rise in the home's value. Mortgage repayments that pay off the loan aren't a cost: they come back to you when you sell. Assumes prices rise 3.0% and rents 3.0% a year (over past 5-year periods, prices in Australia typically rose 5.6% a year; we cap our starting figure at 3% to stay cautious); change these under "Rates, price growth and upkeep".
An illustration, not financial advice. Prices can fall as well as rise, and rates, rents and taxes change.
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Questions
It depends mostly on how long you stay. With our starting figures for a A$950,000 home, renting works out cheaper over 7 years. Buying and selling costs are paid once, so the longer you stay, the more buying tends to win. Change the rent, years and growth above to test your own case.
Moving home in New South Wales: stamp duty is about A$36,938. All buying costs together come to about A$39,508, or 4.2% of the price. Change the price or buyer type above to see your own figure.
Yes. Foreign buyers pay a surcharge on top of stamp duty: 9% in New South Wales and 8% in Victoria, plus a FIRB application fee.
As a citizen or permanent resident, foreign-buyer rules don't apply to you.
A conveyancer or solicitor in the state you're buying in. ID for a 100-point check, and a tax file number if you'll rent it out.
We last updated the figures on 16 Oct 2026 and checked them against official sources on 16 Oct 2026. We check every country every week, and show a warning if a check is overdue.
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