About This Calculator
Who Runs This Site
The NZ Buy vs Rent Calculator is operated by Shan Ming Yang Limited, a company registered in New Zealand. We build and maintain both the UK and NZ versions of this calculator.
Why We Built It
Deciding whether to buy or rent is one of the biggest financial decisions most people make, and the honest answer is almost always "it depends." We built this calculator so you can plug in your own numbers - deposit, mortgage rate, rent, expected returns - and see a like-for-like comparison of where you'd end up financially under each option, instead of relying on rules of thumb.
How the Numbers Work
The calculator runs a year-by-year simulation of both scenarios, accounting for mortgage payments, property taxes, maintenance, insurance, one-off purchase costs, the cost of selling, rent increases and investment growth. For the full methodology, see How It Works.
It then compares your net wealth under each option at the end of the time you expect to stay in the home (10 years by default):
- Buying: your home's value, less the costs of selling it, minus the mortgage still owed on it.
- Renting & investing: an investment portfolio grown from the deposit you didn't spend and the monthly difference between owning and renting costs.
Where Our Default Figures Come From
Every default figure we pre-fill for NZ - house price, rent and mortgage rate - comes from a named, publicly available source with a stated "as of" date. All defaults are editable, so you can substitute your own numbers at any time.
| Assumption | Default | Source | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| House Price | $750,000 | REINZ national median price | 2026-08 |
| Weekly Rent | $565 / week | MBIE Tenancy Bond Database, mean weekly rent | 2026-06 |
| Mortgage Rate | 5.69% | RBNZ B20 new residential mortgage rates (2-year, standard) | 2026-05 |
The remaining assumptions (maintenance, council rates, investment returns, home appreciation) are estimates rather than sourced figures.
Reading Your Results
Whichever option leaves you with higher net wealth, as defined above, is the better one on your inputs and assumptions. The results panel also shows:
- Difference:
- How much more wealth the recommended option leaves you with.
- Crossover point:
- The year when one option becomes financially better than the other.
Independence
We don't take referral or commission income from mortgage lenders, real estate agents or brokers, and no commercial relationship influences the defaults or the results this calculator produces. The calculator is free to use and always will be.
Editorial & Accuracy
This site is published by Shan Ming Yang Limited, which is responsible for its content, calculations and default figures.
The headline default figures - house price, rent and mortgage rate - are reviewed against their named public sources at least every 6 months, and the date of the latest review is shown on the calculator page. The figures were last reviewed on 2026-09-23.
If you spot an error or an out-of-date figure, please tell us by email or on our feedback board. We check reported issues against the original source, correct confirmed errors, and record notable corrections in the changelog.
Contact
Questions, corrections or feedback are welcome:
- Email: hello@buyvsrent.co.nz
- Feedback board: buyvsrent.userjot.com