Buy Now or Wait Calculator
Compare buying now against waiting to save more, accounting for property price growth over the waiting period and the loan each option needs.
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Waiting to save a bigger deposit only helps if prices stay still. When prices rise, the property you are saving toward gets more expensive at the same time as your deposit grows, and the two can cancel out entirely — or the market can move faster than you save.
The arithmetic is simple and rarely done: compare the loan you need today against the loan you would need after the wait, at the price the property would then be.
The comparison
The future price is today price compounded at the growth rate over the waiting period. The future deposit is what you have now plus the monthly saving times the months. The loan needed in each case is the price minus the deposit at that moment.
Worked example
A 300,000 property with a 45,000 deposit needs a 255,000 loan today. Waiting twelve months while saving 1,000 a month builds the deposit to 57,000 — but at 5% growth the property is 315,000, so the loan needed is 258,000. Waiting means borrowing 3,000 more, though the deposit improves from 15% to 18.1%, which may buy a better rate.
The break-even growth rate
Waiting wins whenever your saving over the period exceeds the price rise. On these numbers 12,000 of saving covers a 4% rise exactly, so any growth above 4% makes waiting worse in loan terms. Below it, waiting helps — and in a falling market it helps a great deal.
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Create your free property pageFrequently asked questions
What if prices fall while I wait?
Then waiting wins twice: a smaller deposit buys more, and the loan needed drops sharply. Enter a negative growth rate to see the effect, but remember that lending standards usually tighten in falling markets.
Should I include the rent I pay while waiting?
It matters and is not in this comparison, which looks only at the loan needed. Rent paid during the wait is money that does not build equity, so include it separately when weighing the two options.
Does a bigger deposit percentage make waiting worthwhile anyway?
Sometimes. Crossing a loan-to-value threshold can buy a materially better rate, which may outweigh a slightly larger loan. Run the deposit versus rate comparison to see what the better band is worth.
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