Buy or rent
Compare the total cost of buying a home with renting one over the same period.
Figures follow Japanese law and Tokyo's rules, with every source cited and dated.
Results
Over 10 years, buying costs ¥7,933,510 less than renting under these assumptions.
Japan · Tokyo (23 wards) · JPY
BreakdownCost of owning: ¥10,898,472 · Renting: ¥18,831,982
Owning
- Interest paid
- ¥7,162,560
- Deposit interest forgone on the down payment and buyer costs
- ¥358,392
- Buyer costs
- ¥1,786,000
- Upkeep reserve
- ¥5,000,000
- Resale costs
- ¥1,822,626
- Less: value gained
- -¥5,231,106
- Cost of owning
- ¥10,898,472
Renting
- Rent paid over 10 years (rising 1% a year)
- ¥18,831,982
Principal repaid builds your equity, so it is not counted as a cost.
Growth rates and the deposit rate are assumptions, not forecasts. If you change them above, the sentence changes too.
Note
Every figure on this page is an estimate based on the values you entered and on defaults from Japanese national law, Tokyo's rules and common market practice, each as of the date shown next to it. This is not financial, legal or tax advice. The real amounts come from the tax notices, the judicial scrivener's (司法書士) bill and your lender's offer when you buy; check them before you sign. The site does not store the numbers you enter; they stay in the page address.
Assumptions you can change
Home price growth per year
1%
Assumption
The assumed change in the home's price each year. It can be negative. This is an assumption, not a forecast.
Rent growth per year
1%
Assumption
The assumed rise in rent each year. This is an assumption, not a forecast.
Deposit rate
0.3%
Assumption
What the same cash would earn each year in a deposit. This is an assumption, not a forecast.
Upkeep reserve
1%
Assumption
The share of the price set aside each year for repairs and replacements. This is an assumption, not a forecast.
Resale costs
3.3%
Source: 昭和45年建設省告示第1552号
Taxes and the brokerage fee when you sell at the end, on the expected sale price.
Buyer costs
¥1,786,000
From the home-buying costs tool
The taxes and fees the buyer pays on the purchase, from the home-buying costs tool.
The link carries only the numbers you entered. The site keeps no copy of them.