Researchers examined more than 20 years of Canadian data on home prices, rents, inflation, interest rates and stock‑market returns across 22 metropolitan areas.

The team built an interactive simulator that follows three financial paths – a fixed‑rate mortgage owner, a variable‑rate mortgage owner and a renter – over a 25‑year horizon. Each run draws from 1,000 possible scenarios that mix rent levels, interest rates and stock returns.

The simulation shows that renting an average studio or one‑bedroom and investing the monthly savings can beat the wealth accumulated by buying a comparable condo. The advantage disappears once the rental unit reaches two bedrooms or larger, because higher rent quickly consumes the surplus.

Meanwhile, home prices have been falling in recent years while interest rates, property taxes and maintenance costs have risen. A 2005 stock‑market investment is now roughly seven times its original value, whereas a property bought the same year has only tripled in worth.

The analysis also highlights affordability pressure: half of couples in the 22 cities cannot afford an average condo, and two‑thirds cannot afford a typical house. For many Canadians, renting remains the only realistic option.

These findings suggest that the financial benefit of home ownership is not guaranteed. For renters of small units, the saved cash can be a powerful wealth‑building tool, while larger rentals erode that edge and may eventually cost more than a mortgage.