Rent or Buy in Mumbai? How to Run the Numbers in 2026

A simple, honest way to compare renting with buying a flat in Mumbai: upfront costs, EMI, interest, maintenance and the opportunity cost of your down payment.

High-rise apartment towers on the Lower Parel skyline

We help people rent and buy, so we have no reason to push either. Here's the method we use when a client asks, "Should I just buy?"

Step 1: Count the upfront cost

Buying needs much more than the down payment. In Mumbai, stamp duty is generally 6% of the higher of the deal value and the ready reckoner value (5% plus 1% metro cess), with registration fees capped at Rs 30,000. Women buyers get a 1% concession in some cases.

Step 2: Compare yearly costs, not EMI vs rent

EMI includes principal, which builds your equity. The fair comparison is rent against the costs you never get back: interest, maintenance, property tax, and the return you give up on your down payment.

An illustrative example

Assumptions only. Use your own numbers. A Rs 2 crore flat, 20% down, an 80% loan of Rs 1.6 crore over 20 years at 8.5%, a similar flat available for Rs 50,000 a month in rent, and a 7% return you could earn on cash.

Item	Buy	Rent
Upfront	Rs 40 lakh down + about Rs 12.3 lakh stamp duty and registration	Security deposit only
Monthly outgo	EMI about Rs 1,38,850	Rs 50,000
Year 1 interest	About Rs 13.5 lakh	-
Year 1 principal repaid	About Rs 3.2 lakh (this is equity)	-
Return given up on Rs 52.3 lakh at 7%	About Rs 3.7 lakh	-
Year 1 cost you don't get back	About Rs 17.2 lakh + maintenance and property tax	Rs 6 lakh rent

In Mumbai, rent is usually a small percentage of a flat's price. That makes the comparison less obvious than people think.

Step 3: Ask what price growth you need

In the example, buying costs roughly Rs 11 lakh more in year one before maintenance. On a Rs 2 crore flat, that's about 5.6% price growth a year just to break even early on. Interest falls as the loan reduces, and rents usually rise, so the gap narrows over time.

Step 4: Weigh what numbers can't

Buy if you'll stay put for many years, value stability, and the EMI is comfortable.
Rent if your job may move, you're new to the city, or you'd stretch to afford the EMI.
Taxes can change the picture. Under the old tax regime, interest on a self-occupied home loan is deductible up to Rs 2 lakh a year. The new regime doesn't allow that deduction for a self-occupied home. Ask your CA which applies to you.

Related reading

Want help running your own numbers? We rent and sell, so we'll give you both sides. Book a video call.

Illustrative example only. Not financial or tax advice.

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