Buy-or-rent break-even · Saint-Hyacinthe · 2026
The median rent in Saint-Hyacinthe 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 Saint-Hyacinthe, buying the median 2026 condo ($335,000) with the minimum down payment ($16,750) and $5,025 of buying costs comes to $1,970 a month, condo fees included, against a median rent of $1,600: the tenant keeps $370 a month at the start. The buyer makes up that gap through the principal they repay ($634 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 4 years; at 0% appreciation, 8 years; at 4%, 3 years. It is one of the shortest break-evens among the 50 cities and boroughs tracked (median 5 years at 2%). To come out even after five years, the condo has to gain 1.0% a year; after ten years, it can even lose value. 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 Saint-Hyacinthe, buying the median 2026 condo ($335,000) with the minimum down payment ($16,750) and $5,025 of buying costs comes to $1,970 a month, condo fees included, against a median rent of $1,600: the tenant keeps $370 a month at the start. The buyer makes up that gap through the principal they repay ($634 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 4 years; at 0% appreciation, 8 years; at 4%, 3 years. It is one of the shortest break-evens among the 50 cities and boroughs tracked (median 5 years at 2%). To come out even after five years, the condo has to gain 1.0% a year; after ten years, it can even lose value.
Cumulative net cost, buying versus renting in Saint-Hyacinthe
| 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 | $18,547 | $50,394 | $44,029 | $37,664 | +$25,482 |
| 2 years | $37,325 | $66,008 | $53,150 | $40,039 | +$15,825 |
| 3 years | $56,347 | $81,334 | $61,854 | $41,596 | +$5,507 |
| 5 years | $95,179 | $111,068 | $77,944 | $42,118 | -$17,235 |
| 7 years | $135,159 | $139,486 | $92,166 | $38,940 | -$42,993 |
| 10 years | $197,559 | $179,373 | $109,678 | $26,535 | -$87,881 |
| 15 years | $309,197 | $237,377 | $127,305 | $-17,523 | -$181,892 |
Net cost = everything paid out minus what is recovered (resale for the buyer, investment gains for the tenant). Median rent $1,600 and median condo $335,000 from Centris over twelve months; mortgage at 4.14% (Bank of Canada), minimum down 5.0%, CMHC premium in the loan. Taxes, insurance and maintenance excluded.
What the simulation says in Saint-Hyacinthe
- At the start, the buyer puts out $21,775 (minimum down payment $16,750, 5.0% of the price, plus $5,025 of buying costs, welcome tax on top) and pays $370 a month more than the tenant. On resale, they leave $16,750 in costs on today's price.
- After five years, at 2% appreciation a year, buying has cost -$17,235 less than renting; after ten years, -$87,881. At 0% appreciation, ten years of buying cost -$18,186 less than ten years of renting; at 4%, -$171,024.
- The annual appreciation needed to come out even: 1.0% over five years, -0.6% over ten. What the median condo in Saint-Hyacinthe actually did since 2016 is on the condo prices in Saint-Hyacinthe page; the next ten years are not promised.
- The condo price is worth 17.4 years of rent in Saint-Hyacinthe. 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 Saint-Hyacinthe
In Saint-Hyacinthe, the break-even is short: the rent is close to the cost of the condo, the down payment is small, and the principal repaid does the rest. A buyer who plans to stay 4 years or more has little reason to wait, unless they expect prices to fall; even a condo that gains nothing beats renting after 8 years. The real risk here is having to sell in the first two or three years: buying and selling costs are not yet absorbed, and renting would have won. The detailed monthly cost, interest, principal and fees, is in rent or buy a condo in Saint-Hyacinthe; the investor's view, in investing in a rental condo in Saint-Hyacinthe.
How to read these figures
The break-even is the year when what buying has cost net, after resale, becomes less than or equal to what renting has cost net, investment gains deducted. Buyer's side: minimum down payment, buying costs, $1,970 a month (mortgage at 4.14% and condo fees), minus what they recover by selling (condo price under the scenario, minus 5% costs, minus the loan balance). Tenant's side: rents paid, minus the gains on the savings they could invest because they did not buy. The starting data are those of the rent or buy in Saint-Hyacinthe page: median rent from 38 Centris leases over twelve months, median condo from 115 sales in 2026, median fees. 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 Saint-Hyacinthe?
4 years if the median condo gains 2% a year, 8 years if it gains nothing, 3 years at 4%. With the minimum down, $1,970 a month against a rent of $1,600; buying costs 1.5%, selling 5%, tenant's savings at 3%.
How much appreciation does buying need to pay off in Saint-Hyacinthe?
1.0% a year to come out even after five years, -0.6% after ten. What the median condo in Saint-Hyacinthe 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 ($21,775 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 4 years should rent and invest the difference.
Sources: Centris (Matrix), Rental module, leases concluded from September 16, 2025 to September 16, 2026 for Saint-Hyacinthe, 38 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.