Leverage works both ways
With 10% down, a 3% rise in the home's value is roughly a 30% return on your down payment. A 3% drop costs you just as fast. Add commission and PTT, and selling in the first few years usually loses money.
Rent vs. Buy Calculator
Should you rent or buy in North Vancouver?
Put in the rent you'd pay and the condo you'd buy. The calculator runs both paths month by month: mortgage, CMHC, PTT, strata, rent increases, investment returns, and the cost of selling. Every number is yours to change.
Rules and rates checked .
Where
What
Or a Lonsdale building
Starting price is the GVR benchmark for a typical condo in City of North Vancouver. Tap the next to any number to see where it comes from.
$
$/mo
%
$77,030 down + $22,878 CMHC premium added to the mortgage. Minimum at this price: 6.8% ($52,030). Under 20% adds CMHC insurance.
years
Mortgage
%
Held for the whole period. Renewals will differ.
Under 20% down, 30 years needs a first-time buyer or a new build and adds 0.2% to CMHC.
$
Plus $5,406 property transfer tax.
Owning costs
$/mo
$/yr
Before the Home Owner Grant.
$/yr
% of value/yr
Inside the suite. Strata covers the building.
%/yr
Strata, tax, insurance.
Renting
%/yr
BC caps increases for a sitting tenant. Moving resets to market.
$/mo
Markets and habits
%/yr
%/yr
After fees.
%
100% means every dollar saved goes into investments, every month, for the whole period.
Tax
$
For a couple, add both people's room. Savings beyond it go to a taxable account.
$
TFSA is $7,000 a person for 2026.
%
Roughly 28% on $90K income in BC. Half of a capital gain is taxed at this rate.
After 10 years
Buying comes out $144,858 ahead
Buy, then sell
$428,292
Rent + invest
$283,434
Buying pulls ahead in year 4. Over 10 years, buying wins if prices rise more than 1.4% a year.
Owning, year 1
$4,560/mo
$987 of that is principal, which stays yours. $3,573 is interest, strata, tax, insurance and upkeep.
Renting, year 1
$3,483/mo
$1,077/mo less than owning. The renter only wins if that gets invested.
Tax at year 10
No capital gains tax on the home. It's your principal residence, so the $217,703 gain is yours in full. (If it weren't your home, that gain would be taxed about $30,478.)
Capital gains tax does apply to the renter's investments once they outgrow TFSA and FHSA room: $118,016 ends up in a taxable account, with $6,624 of tax on its gains.
Net worth if you stopped in that year
Illustrative only, not financial or tax advice. The buyer's number assumes a sale in that year after commission, GST and legal. Tax on the renter's taxable account is applied at the end, as if sold that year. Mortgage interest is not deductible in Canada. Confirm rates with your lender and tax treatment with your accountant.
Reading the result
What the usual rent-vs-buy argument leaves out
Principal is savings you can't skip
Part of every mortgage payment is principal, and it stays yours. Rent doesn't. On a typical City of North Vancouver condo ($770,300 benchmark, $3,458 rent), $987 of the first-year monthly payment is principal.
Renting wins only if the gap gets invested
On Lonsdale today, renting usually costs less per month than owning the same unit. That gap builds wealth only if it goes into investments every month. Drop the “share invested” dial to 50% and watch what happens.
Canadian rules are different
The gain on your principal residence is fully tax-free, with no cap. A renter's investments only get that inside TFSA and FHSA room, which runs out. Mortgage interest isn't deductible here. Under 20% down you pay CMHC insurance, and at $1.5M and up 20% is the minimum. Most rent-vs-buy videos online use US rules, where none of this works the same way.
Stocks vs. real estate
Is a home a better investment than the stock market?
The usual comparison puts a home's price growth next to a stock index, as if you'd paid cash for both. Almost nobody pays cash for a first home. With 10% down, the price change lands on your own money about ten times over. That works in both directions.
Here's the Greater Vancouver apartment benchmark from Greater Vancouver REALTORS®, for two buyers who each put 10% down:
Buyer
Benchmark then
10% down
Change to Aug 2026
What it means
Bought January 2016
Benchmark: $456,600
Down: $45,660
Change: +$229,600
About five times the down payment, before interest and costs.
Bought January 2022
Benchmark: $775,700
Down: $77,570
Change: −$89,500
More than the whole down payment, before the cost of selling.
August 2026 benchmark: $686,200. A benchmark tracks a typical home across the region, not any one unit. North Vancouver's apartment benchmark was $770,300 in August 2026, down 4.0% on the year.
Same region, same kind of home, opposite results
What separated those two buyers was when they bought and how long they held. That's why the calculator asks how long you'd stay, and why its default of 3% a year sits between the last ten years (about 3.9% a year) and the last four (about −2.6% a year).
Do renters actually invest the difference?
“Rent and invest the difference” works if the difference gets invested every month, for years. I can't tell you whether you'd do that. The calculator can show what happens if you don't: on a typical City of North Vancouver condo ($770,300 benchmark, $3,458 rent), investing half drops the renter's 10-year result from $283,434 to $217,334. The buyer's principal gets paid either way.
Your building, your numbers
Send me a building or a listing and I'll run it properly
The presets use median asking prices. A real unit has its own strata fee, its own depreciation report, and a rent it could actually get. Tell me the building or the MLS® number and what you pay in rent now. I'll send back the comparison with that unit's actual numbers.
Run it on a real unit
First-Time Buyer Money Map
Buying your first North Vancouver home without guessing the cash
PTT, first-time-buyer exemption, FHSA, RRSP Home Buyers' Plan, inspection, legal, and the cash reserve most buyers forget. This is the money map before the tour list.
Book a 15-minute buyer call
Free. You leave with a written next-steps list.
Figures current as of September 2026
Program thresholds change. Verify BC PTT, first-time-buyer exemption, FHSA, and RRSP HBP limits with official sources and your lender/accountant before writing an offer.
Cost Stack
The five numbers to stack before you shop
Item
What it means
Buyer move
BC Property Transfer Tax
Budget 1% on the first $200,000 and 2% on the portion up to $2,000,000 for typical first-time-buyer price points.
Run this before you write. It is usually one of the largest cash-at-completion costs.
First-time-buyer PTT exemption
Up to $8,000 off for homes up to $835,000, phasing out to nothing at $860,000. A new build can use the newly built home exemption instead: no PTT up to $1.1M.
Check eligibility and price thresholds before relying on it; North Shore prices often still leave some PTT payable.
FHSA
Tax-deductible contributions, tax-free qualifying withdrawal. $8,000 a year, up to $8,000 of unused room carries forward, $40,000 lifetime, per person.
Use it first if you qualify, especially if you have taxable income and time before completion.
RRSP Home Buyers' Plan
Eligible first-time buyers can withdraw up to $60,000 from RRSPs toward a qualifying purchase, with repayment rules.
Useful bridge money, but it is not free money. Map the repayment plan before pulling it.
Inspection, legal, insurance, adjustments
Inspection, conveyancing, title insurance if applicable, moving, strata document review, and closing adjustments all add up.
Keep a separate closing-cost reserve instead of spending every dollar on the down payment.
Worked example: $775,000 North Vancouver condo
This is not advice or a promise that you qualify. It shows how the major programs can stack so you know what to ask your lender, accountant, and lawyer before you write.
Target condo price$775,000
10% down payment$77,500
Potential FHSA savings used$24,000
Potential RRSP HBP withdrawal$35,000
Additional cash needed for down payment$18,500
Estimated PTT before exemption$13,500
First-time-buyer exemption$8,000
PTT after exemption$5,500
Inspection/legal/adjustments reserve$3,000-$6,000
Use registered money deliberately
FHSA and HBP can close a down-payment gap, but the order matters and HBP repayments need to fit your cash flow.
Keep closing cash separate
A strong offer can still fail if PTT, legal fees, inspection, insurance, or adjustments surprise you at completion.
Write from a ceiling
Know your walk-away number before showings. It is easier to avoid overpaying when the number is decided before the room gets emotional.
First-Time Buyer FAQ
Practical Questions Before You Tour
Is it better to rent or buy a condo in North Vancouver?
It depends on how long you stay, what prices do, and whether you invest the monthly difference. At today's Lonsdale rents and rates, owning costs more per month in the early years. On a typical City of North Vancouver condo ($770,300 benchmark, $3,458 rent), buying pulls ahead in year 4 at 3% a year price growth. Over two or three years, renting usually wins because of PTT and selling costs.
Is renting and investing the difference better than buying?
On paper it can be, if you invest the whole difference every month for years and your returns beat the home's growth after leverage. In practice the plan depends on discipline. On a typical City of North Vancouver condo ($770,300 benchmark, $3,458 rent), investing half the gap instead of all of it drops the renter's 10-year result from $283,434 to $217,334, while the buyer ends at $428,292. The calculator has a setting for the share you'd really invest. Townhomes and West Vancouver often come out the other way; try them.
Is a house a better investment than the stock market in Canada?
Comparing home prices with stock returns leaves out leverage. With 10% down, a home's price change is multiplied roughly ten times on your own money, up or down. A Greater Vancouver apartment bought at the January 2016 benchmark gained about five times its down payment by August 2026. One bought in January 2022 lost more than its down payment. The fair comparison runs both paths with the same cash, which is what the calculator does.
Does Canada have a $250,000 or $500,000 home sale exclusion like the US?
No. Canada's principal residence exemption has no dollar cap, so the whole gain on your home can be tax-free. A family unit can designate one principal residence per year, and you still report the sale on your tax return. Selling within 365 days can lose the exemption under the federal flipping rule, unless the sale follows a life event such as a job relocation, separation or a new child.
Is mortgage interest tax-deductible in Canada?
Not on the home you live in. Interest is only deductible when you borrow to earn income, such as on a rental property. That's one reason US rent-vs-buy math overstates the case for buying here.
What is the BC home flipping tax?
Since January 1, 2025, BC taxes the gain on a home sold within two years. The rate is 20% within 365 days and tapers to zero at 730 days. If it was your principal residence and you owned it at least 365 days, you can deduct up to $20,000 of the gain. The calculator applies it when you pick a one-year stay.
What tax breaks do first-time buyers get in BC in 2026?
The PTT exemption (up to $8,000 off, homes to $835,000), or the newly built home exemption (no PTT up to $1.1M, any buyer who'll live there). The first-time buyer GST rebate removes the 5% GST on a new home up to $1M, phasing out at $1.5M. The federal home buyers' amount is a $1,400 tax credit. The FHSA gives a tax deduction going in and a tax-free withdrawal, up to $40,000 per person, and the RRSP Home Buyers' Plan lends you up to $60,000 of your own RRSP. Once you own, the BC Home Owner Grant takes up to $570 a year off property tax in Metro Vancouver.
How does the principal residence exemption change rent vs. buy?
When you sell your principal residence, the gain is tax-free, however large it is. A renter's investments are tax-free only inside TFSA and FHSA room. Savings beyond that go into a taxable account, and half of the gain is taxed at your marginal rate. The calculator tracks the room year by year and shows what the exemption is worth on your numbers.
What's the minimum down payment in North Vancouver?
5% on the first $500,000 and 10% on the portion above it, up to $1.5M. At $1.5M and up the mortgage can't be insured, so the minimum is 20%. Under 20% down you pay CMHC insurance, which is added to the mortgage.
Does this calculator include CMHC, PTT and selling costs?
Yes. CMHC insurance is added to the mortgage when you put down less than 20%, and 30-year amortization is limited to first-time buyers and new builds when the mortgage is insured. PTT uses BC's current tiers with the first-time-buyer and newly built exemptions. It also includes GST and the GST rebate on new builds, the Home Owner Grant, the $1,400 home buyers' tax credit and BC's flipping tax. The buyer's result each year assumes a sale that year, after commission, GST and legal fees.
Can a first-time buyer still use the BC PTT exemption in North Vancouver?
Sometimes. Eligibility depends on buyer status, property use, citizenship or residency requirements, and the current price threshold. Many North Shore purchases are above the full-exemption amount, so you may still owe part or all of the PTT.
Should I use the FHSA or RRSP Home Buyers' Plan first?
For many buyers, FHSA money is cleaner because qualifying withdrawals are tax-free and do not need to be repaid. RRSP HBP can still help, but it should be paired with a repayment plan.
How much should I keep aside after the down payment?
Keep a closing reserve for PTT, legal fees, inspection, insurance, moving, strata document review, and completion adjustments. The exact reserve depends on your purchase price and building, but spending every dollar on the down payment is usually risky.
What do I get from the 15-minute buyer call?
You leave with a written next-steps list: what to confirm with your lender, what price band is realistic, which programs matter, and what to prepare before touring seriously.