In Ukraine, purchasing one’s own apartment without taking out a loan or mortgage remains a challenging task for most citizens. According to analysts, on average, a Ukrainian needs to work for 5 to 7 years, saving their entire salary, to buy a one-room apartment on the secondary market. It is most difficult for residents of Kyiv to save for an apartment, while it can be done the fastest in Kherson.
This is reported by Finway
Housing Affordability in Different Cities
Analysts have studied the ratio of the average cost of one-room apartments to the median salary in regional centers. The most affordable city for purchasing housing is Kherson — here, it is sufficient to work for only 1.95 years, saving the entire average salary of 25,000 UAH, as the average price of an apartment is approximately 584,000 UAH. Other cities with the most affordable housing include:
- Zaporizhzhia — 2.99 years;
- Mykolaiv — 3.35 years;
- Sumy — 3.38 years;
- Kharkiv — 3.46 years.
The significant decrease in prices in these cities is related to the consequences of the war and military actions. In cities like Dnipro, Kropyvnytskyi, Khmelnytskyi, or Chernihiv, apartment prices have risen but still remain relatively affordable. For example, in Dnipro, one would need to save for 3.93 years (the cost exceeds 1 million UAH), in Kropyvnytskyi — 4.48 years, in Khmelnytskyi — 4.83 years, and in Lutsk — 5.68 years. Similar figures are observed in Ivano-Frankivsk, Rivne, Uzhhorod, and Zhytomyr, where it takes an average of 5.7 to 6.3 years to save up.
The Most Expensive Housing is in Kyiv, Lviv, and Vinnytsia
Kyiv tops the list of cities with the most expensive apartments in 2025: the average price is 3,013,082 UAH, while the average salary is 25,750 UAH. To purchase housing here, one would need to work for nearly 10 years, saving their entire salary. Following Kyiv in terms of expense are:
- Lviv — average price 2,264,570 UAH, requiring 7.4 years of work;
- Vinnytsia — nearly 2 million UAH, 7.99 years.
The high prices in these cities are explained by significant demand, infrastructure development, and attractiveness for investors.
“These calculations do not take into account living expenses, but they provide a benchmark for housing affordability depending on the region.”
If we disregard financing, the average Ukrainian will need between 2 to 10 years of work to buy their own apartment. However, in practice, this model is rarely fully realized, as people often seek family support, use loans, mortgages, or save a portion of their income. Therefore, such figures should be viewed as an illustration of purchasing power in different regions of Ukraine.