Updated 19 October 2026. We checked current loan rates, rent and price data and Karnataka's stamp duty and registration charges, then worked the numbers line by line so you can replace any input with your own. We do not recommend buying or renting; we show what the numbers say.

The inputs, with sources

  • Price: ₹1.2 crore, about 1,225 sq ft at Bengaluru's average of ₹9,785 per sq ft (PropTiger Q1 2026 via The Realty Today, 28 May 2026). The size is our assumption, chosen as a typical 2BHK.
  • Down payment: 20%, or ₹24 lakh. Loan: ₹96 lakh for 20 years (our assumptions).
  • Interest rate: 8.15%, equal to SBI's EBLR from 15 October 2026 before spreads (SBI rate page). SBI's regular home loan range is 7.50%–8.80% (Business Today, 18 October 2026), so we also show both ends.
  • Rent: ₹40,000 a month, the middle of the ₹35,000–45,000 range for a 2BHK on ORR and Sarjapur Road (PropNewz, 9 October 2026, citing NoBroker via Outlook Money).
  • Stamp duty: 5% above ₹45 lakh, plus about 10% cess and about 2% surcharge on the duty in urban areas; registration 2%, revised from 1% from 31 August 2025 (HomeFirst, 11 June 2026). Check the exact figure on the Kaveri Online calculator before registering.
  • Return on cash not spent: 6.40%, the top of SBI's general-public fixed-deposit range of 6.05%–6.40% (TLDR Money, 12 October 2026).

The EMI at today's rates

  • 7.50% · EMI ₹77,337 · total interest over 20 years ₹89.6 lakh.
  • 7.75% · EMI ₹78,811 · total interest ₹93.1 lakh.
  • 8.15% · EMI ₹81,197 · total interest ₹98.9 lakh.
  • 8.80% · EMI ₹85,143 · total interest ₹1.08 crore.
  • At 8.15%, the EMI is about 2.0 times a ₹40,000 rent. NoBroker data put the gap at 2.5–3 times in IT corridors, against about 1.8 times two years earlier (PropNewz, 9 October 2026); that comparison uses different flats and a loan rate it does not state.

Upfront cost of buying

  • Down payment: ₹24 lakh.
  • Stamp duty with cess and surcharge: 5% × 1.12 = 5.6%, about ₹6.72 lakh.
  • Registration at 2%: ₹2.4 lakh.
  • Total cash out on day one: about ₹33.1 lakh, before interiors, brokerage or society deposits.
  • Renting instead: a deposit, often several months' rent. One widely shared case was ₹1.5 lakh on a ₹22,000–24,000 1BHK in a walk-up more than 15 years old (Reddit post reported by Business Today, 5 October 2026); that is one anecdote, not survey data.

Year one: the money you do not get back

Principal repaid is savings, so we compare only the costs that do not come back. Our figures, at 8.15%:

  • Interest paid in year one: about ₹7.75 lakh (of about ₹9.74 lakh paid in EMIs; about ₹1.99 lakh goes to principal).
  • Lost return on ₹33.1 lakh at 6.40%: about ₹2.12 lakh.
  • Owner's year-one cost: about ₹9.87 lakh, before maintenance, property tax and any tax deduction, which vary by flat and by person.
  • Renter's year-one cost: ₹4.8 lakh (₹40,000 × 12).
  • Gap: about ₹5.07 lakh in year one, plus ₹9.12 lakh of stamp duty and registration that is spent once and never comes back.

What changes the answer: rate and rent

The year-one gap moves a lot with two inputs. Same flat, same ₹33.1 lakh upfront, same 6.40% return on cash; only the loan rate and the rent change (our arithmetic):

  • 7.50% loan · ₹35,000 rent · owning costs about ₹5.05 lakh more in year one.
  • 7.50% loan · ₹45,000 rent · about ₹3.85 lakh more.
  • 8.15% loan · ₹35,000 rent · about ₹5.67 lakh more.
  • 8.15% loan · ₹45,000 rent · about ₹4.47 lakh more.
  • 8.80% loan · ₹35,000 rent · about ₹6.29 lakh more.
  • 8.80% loan · ₹45,000 rent · about ₹5.09 lakh more.
  • Your credit score sets where you land in SBI's 7.50%–8.80% range, so the rate you are actually sanctioned matters as much as the headline benchmark. Run your own figures on our calculators page: /calculators

How many years to break even?

Break-even is the year in which owning pulls ahead once all costs and gains are counted. In our example, the owner needs the home's value to rise by roughly ₹5 lakh a year, about 4.2% of ₹1.2 crore, just to match renting in year one, and more to recover the one-time ₹9.12 lakh. Three things shrink that gap over time: rent rises while a home loan EMI does not rise with rents, the interest share of each EMI falls, and a lower loan rate cuts the cost directly.

We are not predicting prices. For context only: Bengaluru's average price rose 24% year on year in Q1 2026 (PropTiger via The Realty Today) and 3.1% quarter on quarter in Q2 (JLL, 14 August 2026). Past changes do not tell you what happens next. Use the inputs above with your own expected stay; the longer you stay, the more the one-time costs are spread.

Rental yield in Bangalore

Gross rental yield is a year's rent divided by the price. On a ₹1.2 crore flat, rents of ₹35,000, ₹40,000 and ₹45,000 give 3.5%, 4.0% and 4.5% before maintenance, tax and vacancy (our arithmetic). That is below the 8.15% benchmark loan rate, which is why the monthly gap between EMI and rent is wide.

How much have rents risen in Bangalore?

  • JLL: residential rents up 2.5% quarter on quarter in Q2 2026, led by tech demand outpacing supply (JLL, 14 August 2026).
  • Cushman & Wakefield: average citywide rents up 4–5% a year in its Q1 2026 report (Businessworld, 6 October 2026).
  • Sales cooled in the same quarter: about 17,000 units, down 6% quarter on quarter (JLL).

Is it a good time to buy after the rate hike?

Nobody can time it, and we will not try. What the numbers show is narrower: a 25 bps rise adds about ₹2,400 a month to the EMI in our example (₹78,811 at 7.75% versus ₹81,197 at 8.15%). Questions that matter more than timing: how many years you expect to stay, whether your job keeps you in one part of the city, how secure your income is, and whether the EMI stays comfortable if rates rise again. The RBI's next policy meeting is 2–4 December 2026 (TLDR Money).

Our July rent-vs-buy guide has the broader framework: Rent vs Buy in Bangalore: An Honest 2026 Framework. On whether prices are falling: Are Bangalore Property Prices Falling in 2026? What the Data Says. Today's bank-by-bank rates: Home Loan Rates After RBI Hike: Oct 2026 Bank-by-Bank List.

Homes near the IT corridors

Listed projects near ORR, Sarjapur Road, Whitefield and Electronic City, with starting prices from our listings: