Home ownership running costs as a percentage of rental income: RBA insights

Property prices move in cycles, but perhaps not exactly with the speed that the loosest of property promoters suggest.

Indeed the value of the average national home has actually only grown by an average of 2.4% per year, plus inflation, over the past six decades.

Owning a home can therefore prove to be as expensive as renting, according to some Reserve Bank of Australia research.

The researchers at the Reserve Bank, Ryan Fox and Peter Tulip, have looked at the average cost of home ownership.

Their recent research prompts the asking of the perennial question - should you rent or buy?

Here's the list of ongoing running costs like council rates and water, all significant costs must be deducted from any increase in house prices for investors or home owners alike.

Of course, the intrinsic benefits of home ownership aren't calculated.

And much of the final outcome depends of course how long you retain the property — with longer stays very much shifting the equation in favour of buying.

Source: RBA.