House Prices

There can be life in dead money - Mary Holm

Q: I rent my home and keep savings in the bank (a potential house deposit, because isn't buying a house what we're all supposed to do?) and often hear the "rent is dead money" comment from friends and colleagues who have already bought a home and are paying off a mortgage.

But surely the hundreds of thousands of dollars people pay in interest over the term of their mortgage is

Monday, October 04th 2004

just as "deceased"?

I often wonder if there is a way of comparing the "rent-and-invest versus mortgage" decision 15 years into the future.

Say, Joe Bloggs has $170,000 from late Aunty Betty which he puts into long-term government bonds (or maybe some in cash, some in index funds), and pays $300 rent a week, whereas his sister Josephine uses her $170,000 as a deposit on a $340,000 house, with a 15-year mortgage.

Maths was never my strong point, but with vague recollections of net present value calculations, maybe you can help.

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Unity First Home Buyer special 4.15
SBS FirstHome Combo 4.29
ICBC 4.49
Kainga Ora 4.59
SBS Bank Special 4.69
Co-operative Bank - First Home Special 4.74
AIA - Go Home Loans 4.75
Unity Special 4.80
Co-operative Bank - Owner Occ 4.84
China Construction Bank 4.85
Kiwibank Special 4.95
Kainga Ora 4.95
China Construction Bank 4.95
ICBC 4.99
AIA - Go Home Loans 5.25
Unity Special 5.29
Co-operative Bank - First Home Special 5.29
SBS Bank Special 5.29
Co-operative Bank - Owner Occ 5.39
Kiwibank Special 5.39
ASB Bank 5.45
Westpac Special 5.45
SBS Bank Special 5.49
BNZ - Std 5.49
Westpac Special 5.49
ASB Bank 5.59
AIA - Go Home Loans 5.59
ICBC 5.65
Kiwibank Special 5.69
Kainga Ora 5.69
Co-operative Bank - First Home Special 5.89
Co-operative Bank - Owner Occ 5.99
TSB Special 5.99
SBS FirstHome Combo 3.29
AIA - Back My Build 3.34
SBS Construction lending for FHB 3.74
CFML 321 Loans 4.20
Co-operative Bank - Standard 5.34
Co-operative Bank - Owner Occ 5.34
ICBC 5.39
Kainga Ora 5.79
Heartland Bank - Online 5.80
SBS Bank 5.84
Pepper Money Prime 5.99

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