Buy-or-rent break-even · Le Plateau-Mont-Royal · 2026
The median rent in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal against buying the median 2026 condo with the minimum down, year by year over 15 years: what each has cost net, after resale on one side and investment gains on the other, and the year buying moves ahead depending on whether the condo gains 0%, 2% or 4% a year. Centris data, assumptions in black and white.
In Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, buying the median 2026 condo ($600,000) with the minimum down payment ($35,000) and $9,000 of buying costs comes to $3,461 a month, condo fees included, against a median rent of $2,190: the tenant keeps $1,271 a month at the start. The buyer makes up that gap through the principal they repay ($1,126 a month in the first year) and through appreciation, minus the 5% selling costs. Result: if the condo gains 2% a year, buying beats renting after 6 years; at 0% appreciation, never within 15 years; at 4%, 3 years. It is in line with the 50 cities and boroughs tracked (median 5 years at 2%). To come out even after five years, the condo has to gain 2.3% a year; after ten years, 1.0% a year is enough. Assumptions: rent +2%/yr, buying costs 1.5%, selling 5%, savings at 3%; taxes and maintenance excluded. Sources: Centris, Bank of Canada, compiled October 8, 2026.
The short answer
In Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, buying the median 2026 condo ($600,000) with the minimum down payment ($35,000) and $9,000 of buying costs comes to $3,461 a month, condo fees included, against a median rent of $2,190: the tenant keeps $1,271 a month at the start. The buyer makes up that gap through the principal they repay ($1,126 a month in the first year) and through appreciation, minus the 5% selling costs. Result: if the condo gains 2% a year, buying beats renting after 6 years; at 0% appreciation, never within 15 years; at 4%, 3 years. It is in line with the 50 cities and boroughs tracked (median 5 years at 2%). To come out even after five years, the condo has to gain 2.3% a year; after ten years, 1.0% a year is enough.
Cumulative net cost, buying versus renting in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal
| Horizon | Tenant's net cost | Buyer's net cost, condo at 0% | At 2% a year | At 4% a year | Buyer minus tenant (2%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 year | $24,960 | $89,362 | $77,962 | $66,562 | +$53,002 |
| 2 years | $49,949 | $116,627 | $93,599 | $70,115 | +$43,650 |
| 3 years | $74,975 | $143,371 | $108,483 | $72,199 | +$33,508 |
| 5 years | $125,178 | $195,204 | $135,878 | $71,712 | +$10,700 |
| 7 years | $175,651 | $244,660 | $159,909 | $64,579 | -$15,742 |
| 10 years | $252,064 | $313,905 | $189,078 | $40,165 | -$62,986 |
| 15 years | $382,152 | $414,053 | $216,908 | $-42,485 | -$165,244 |
Net cost = everything paid out minus what is recovered (resale for the buyer, investment gains for the tenant). Median rent $2,190 and median condo $600,000 from Centris over twelve months; mortgage at 4.14% (Bank of Canada), minimum down 5.8%, CMHC premium in the loan. Taxes, insurance and maintenance excluded.
What the simulation says in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal
- At the start, the buyer puts out $44,000 (minimum down payment $35,000, 5.8% of the price, plus $9,000 of buying costs, welcome tax on top) and pays $1,271 a month more than the tenant. On resale, they leave $30,000 in costs on today's price.
- After five years, at 2% appreciation a year, buying has cost +$10,700 more than renting; after ten years, -$62,986. At 0% appreciation, ten years of buying cost +$61,841 more than ten years of renting; at 4%, -$211,899.
- The annual appreciation needed to come out even: 2.3% over five years, 1.0% over ten. What the median condo in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal actually did since 2016 is on the condo prices in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal page; the next ten years are not promised.
- The condo price is worth 22.8 years of rent in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal. The higher that ratio, the further the break-even, because the down payment and selling costs grow with the price while the rent stays the benchmark.
- Across the 50 cities and boroughs tracked, the median break-even is 5 years at 2% appreciation, 13 years at 0% and 3 years at 4%; at 2%, buying wins within five years in 30 units and within ten in 49; at 0%, it never catches up with renting in fifteen years in 18 units. The median appreciation needed to break even at five years is 1.8% a year.
What it changes for you in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal
In Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, the break-even is 6 years at 2% appreciation: beyond that, buying wins; short of it, renting and investing the difference wins. The practical rule is the holding period: a household that does not know whether it will still be here in five years should rent; one that plans to stay ten years should buy, even with low appreciation (1.0% a year is enough at ten years). The down payment changes everything: at 20%, interest falls and the break-even moves a year or two closer. The detailed monthly cost, interest, principal and fees, is in rent or buy a condo in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal; the investor's view, in investing in a rental condo in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal.
How to read these figures
One calculation per city, the same rules everywhere, to compare cities with each other more than to predict a specific household. What shortens the break-even: a high rent relative to the price, a small down payment, a condo that gains value, low condo fees. What lengthens it: a high price in years of rent, the 5% selling costs, the taxes and maintenance this calculation leaves out, and a forced resale in the first years. The minimum down payment is the owner-occupant's (5.8% here, with the CMHC premium in the loan). Assumptions, the same for every city: rent and condo fees +2% a year (the Bank of Canada's inflation target); condo appreciation of 0%, 2% or 4% a year depending on the scenario (the median condo gained 106% in ten years, or 7.5% a year, from 2016 to 2026: all three scenarios are below that); buying costs of 1.5% of the price (notary, inspection, adjustments; the welcome tax comes on top and varies by city); selling costs of 5% (brokerage and notary); the tenant's savings, the down payment and buying costs they did not spend plus the monthly gap whenever renting costs less, invested at 3% a year net. Taxes, insurance and maintenance are not counted: they fall on the buyer and push the break-even further out.
Frequently asked questions
After how many years does buying a condo beat renting in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal?
6 years if the median condo gains 2% a year, never within 15 years if it gains nothing, 3 years at 4%. With the minimum down, $3,461 a month against a rent of $2,190; buying costs 1.5%, selling 5%, tenant's savings at 3%.
How much appreciation does buying need to pay off in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal?
2.3% a year to come out even after five years, 1.0% after ten. What the median condo in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal did since 2016 is on the condo prices page; no future increase is guaranteed.
What tips the balance?
The holding period. Below the break-even, buying and selling costs ($39,000 in total on today's price) are not absorbed and renting wins; beyond it, the principal repaid and appreciation make buying win. A household that does not know whether it will stay 6 years should rent and invest the difference.
Sources: Centris (Matrix), Rental module, leases concluded from September 16, 2025 to September 16, 2026 for Le Plateau-Mont-Royal, 725 leases, median; Statistics module, median sale price of condos in 2026 and median condo fees; Bank of Canada and Statistics Canada (10-10-0006), 5-year fixed rate charged, January to July 2026 average; CMHC down payment rules and premiums in force in 2026; simulation by the Loaa & Manseur team under the stated assumptions, aggregates only. This is not financial advice. The buy-or-rent break-even for a condo in 50 cities and boroughs hub compares the 50 units.
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Also available in French: version française de ce guide.
Published September 7, 2026 by the Loaa & Manseur team, the number 1 team at RE/MAX Platine in 2024 and 2025, 6th RE/MAX team in Quebec, 15th in Canada and in the global top 50 according to the official RE/MAX ranking. Tell us about your project.