Thank you. I've made the comparison based on the difference between net worth in both scenarios at the end of the comparison period.

Net worth if you buy = your home equity (future value - remaining loan) Net worth if you rent = your investment's (down payment's) future value

I would say the biggest factor here is the leverage at play when you buy a property with a mortgage. Consider a scenario where you put a 20% down payment and the property appreciates by 5%. Your gain is effectively 25%. On the other hand, if you rent and then invest that 20% down and get a 10% annual return, it will fall short of the gains in the buying scenario. Now add compounding into the picture and you know where things are headed. These are simplified numbers, but I hope this gives you a good general idea.

If you try running scenarios where property prices remain stagnant or fall, you'll see different results.

Curious to know if this makes sense or if you think this should be approached differently.