Rent-or-Buy Calculator

Adjust the orange knobs to:

Set the interest rates you expect on a mortgage and on invested money. (Check mortgage rates...)
The purple line shows the value over time of your home ownership. The blue line shows what would happen if, instead of making the mortgage payments, you used the same money to pay rent and invest the remainder.
Adjust the list price, down payment, and mortgage duration for a hypothetical home purchase to see the rental price that would result in the same net value by the end of the mortgage.

This simulation does not account for any costs associated with home ownership (such as taxes and upkeep), nor any appreciation/depreciation of the property value, nor any other costs, benefits, or risks. With that in mind:

You can consider the interest rate to be adjusted for inflation, and all dollar amounts to be valued in today's dollars.
Changes in local property values over time and the performance of the stock market are highly variable and difficult to predict. This simulation can give you an idea of the expected outcomes, but actual results may be wildly different.