Rent vs Buy Property Calculator — South Africa
Compare the true long-term costs of renting versus buying property in South Africa.
Last updated: May 2026
Property Details
Rental Alternative
Assumptions
Compares the total cost of renting vs buying over a given period — factoring in bond repayments, transfer costs, maintenance, property appreciation, and the opportunity cost of a deposit.
Key inputs explained
- Monthly rent
- Current rent, used as the renting baseline.
- Purchase price
- Property price you'd buy instead.
- Deposit
- Your available cash for a deposit. This is also the opportunity cost reference amount.
- Annual appreciation
- Expected property price growth per year — SA average is roughly 4–7% nominal.
The opportunity cost of your deposit is crucial and often ignored. R200 000 invested at 10% over 10 years is R519 000 — that's the real cost of using it as a deposit instead.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on your situation. Buying builds equity over time and provides stability, but has high upfront costs (deposit, transfer duty, registration fees). Renting is flexible and keeps capital available for other investments. The break-even point — where buying becomes cheaper than renting — is typically 5–10 years in most SA metro areas.
If you put R300,000 into a deposit for a house instead of investing it at 10% per year, you forgo R30,000 per year in investment returns. This opportunity cost must be factored into the true cost of buying. A fair rent-vs-buy comparison should always include what your deposit could have earned if invested.
SA residential property has historically appreciated at roughly 5%–8% per year in nominal terms — barely keeping up with inflation in real terms. In prime areas (Cape Town Atlantic Seaboard, parts of Johannesburg), appreciation has been stronger. Past performance does not guarantee future growth, and location is the single biggest driver.
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