Compare the 5-year (or any horizon) cost of renting vs buying in any OC submarket. Pre-loaded with current OC mortgage rates, median home prices, and 25-year rent growth data.
Defaults reflect Apr 2026 OC market: $925K median home, 6.75% mortgage rate, 3.5% rent + appreciation, 6% expected investment return on the down payment if rented. Excludes income tax effects, transaction costs (~6-8% on sale), and lifestyle differences. Real underwriting should consult a CPA. Free OC analysis: contact NGC.
The calculator compares the total cost of renting vs the total cost of buying across your chosen horizon. Each side counts all relevant cash outflows, then nets out the value you keep at the end (home equity for buyers, investment portfolio value for renters who invested their would-be down payment).
If "Total cost — Rent" is lower, renting wins financially over your horizon. If "Total cost — Buy" is lower, buying wins.
What's included on the rent side: sum of monthly rent across the period (with annual rent growth), minus the appreciated value of the down payment you'd otherwise be tying up in a house (assumed invested at your specified return rate).
What's included on the buy side: mortgage principal + interest, property tax, insurance, HOA, and 1% / yr maintenance estimate — minus your accumulated home equity (down payment + principal paydown + appreciation).
At April 2026 conditions — 6.75% mortgage rates, $925K median home price, $3,500 average 2BR rent — the monthly cost of buying a typical OC home is roughly $5,800/mo all-in (mortgage P&I + tax + insurance + maintenance), versus $3,500/mo to rent. That's a $2,300/mo gap.
For renting to win in this scenario, the renter must invest the down-payment savings at a return high enough to overcome the buyer's home appreciation + principal paydown. With a 6% expected investment return and 3.5% home appreciation, the renter wins for the first 7-9 years before the buyer's accumulated equity catches up.
This break-even shifts dramatically based on your specific submarket:
Pure financial math is one input among several:
For most OC submarkets in 2026, renting has a lower 5-year break-even cost than buying, driven by 6.5–7.5% mortgage rates against $900K+ median home prices. The exact answer depends on your timeline, down payment, and submarket — use the calculator above.
At current conditions, the typical break-even where buying overtakes renting is 7–9 years. Coastal markets (Newport, Laguna) skew longer (10+); inland (Anaheim, Santa Ana) skew shorter (5–7).
The defaults reflect April 2026 OC market conditions. Sanity-check the rent and home price for your specific situation, then run. Most users only need to change rent + price + horizon.
No. Mortgage interest deduction, SALT cap, primary residence capital gains exclusion, and Prop 13 stability all favor buyers in different ways. After-tax math typically tightens the gap by 5–15% depending on income bracket. Consult a CPA for personalized analysis.
OC home prices have averaged roughly 4-5% annual appreciation over 25 years, with significant cyclicality. 3.5% is a conservative forward-looking default. 5% is moderately optimistic. 7%+ would require sustained conditions similar to 2020-2022, which are unlikely to repeat in this rate environment.
