Owner or Tenant?

Did your landlord increase your house rent again? Do you feel that you are paying too much as rent? Should you buy a property in a locality that's close to your office as well as children's school?

If you are grappling with such questions, there's help at hand.

Property portal Makaan.com has launched an index to help you take informed decision on whether to buy a property in a particular location or stay on rent. At present the buy vs rent index covers seven major cities - New Delhi and the National Capital Region, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chennai and Hyderabad. These cities account for around 80% of the real estate market.

The index, which will be updated every three months, takes into account several factors including average value of property, rental yield, price movement and inflation.

A low index number (between 1 and 20) indicates that it is cheaper to buy a home compared with taking it on rent. If the number is between 21 and 25, it means that it is slightly more expensive to buy a home than to stay on rent. A high index number (more than 25) means that it is more expensive to buy a home rather than renting it.

"A prospective property buyer today is confused between opting for a rented accommodation or giving that rental amount as the EMI (equated monthly instalment) for buying a house. The index will empower him with research-based analysis," says Aditya Verma, chief operating officer, Makaan.com.