Own square meters inspire inner confidence in the future. Rented housing always leaves room for maneuver and moving from one place to another. The first option is more reliable, the second is unstable. One will cost a fortune, and for the other you need to pay a barely noticeable amount every month. Making a complete list of all the pros and cons can only make you more confused. We do not want to persuade you to buy or convince you that renting is the only correct solution. Each option has pros and cons, so we suggest you choose the one that is most beneficial for you. On our own behalf, we will provide market analysis and calculations, and you will only need a sound assessment of yourself, your desires and capabilities.
How much is rent today?
Thanks to the fact that LUN regularly monitors the statistics of its ads and is not lazy to reduce it to beautiful ones, and, most importantly, clear graphs, we can, together with this popular real estate search engine, analyze the current situation in the country. For analysis, we want to take not only the capital, but also other large cities - Kharkov, Odessa, Lviv and Dnieper. We will compare rental costs and also analyze the secondary market. An average apartment without frills will be the golden mean for understanding which way is more profitable - renting a home or buy.
Let's start from the first point. If we take the average cost of monthly living in comparison with the level of citizens’ salaries, the list of finalists looks like this:
- 🥇 Lviv;
- 🥈 Kyiv;
- 🥉 Dnepr;
- 🏅 Odessa;
- 🏆 Kharkov.
It is in Lviv and the capital that the cost continues to rise and remains at levels that are pleasant for landlords and at levels that are not very pleasant for tenants. Due to the fact that Kharkov and Odessa have still not been able to fully return to the pre-war standard of living, prices here, as well as demand, are the lowest.
| Lviv | Kyiv | Dnepr | Odessa | Kharkov | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-room | 15,200 hryvnia | 13,000 hryvnia | 10,000 hryvnia | 6,600 hryvnia | 4,000 hryvnia |
| 2-room apartments | 17,100 hryvnia | 18,750 hryvnia | 16,500 hryvnia | 7,800 hryvnia | 6,000 hryvnia |
| 3-room | 19,000 hryvnia | 30,000 hryvnia | 16,000 hryvnia | 10,600 hryvnia | 8,000 hryvnia |
*data is current for the first quarter of 2024
When will your investment pay off?
We have not yet learned to travel in time, but this is not necessary if you have it at hand up-to-date statistics and calculator. We can look into the distant future based on current prices. Of course, the veracity of our forecasts may be affected by changes in the economic and political situation, the emergence of new trends and technologies in the real estate market, GDP dynamics and hundreds of other factors that a person cannot predict. But let's imagine that stability awaits us.
To compare the cost of renting and buying, we took an abstract one-room apartment on the secondary market - the most segment in demand of this of the year. How many years will it take for such an investment to start making a profit? Let's turn to the cities already considered:
- in Lviv – after 11 years;
- in Dnieper - in 12 years;
- in Kyiv – in 15 years;
- in Odessa - after 17 years;
- in Kharkov – in 20 years.
These figures show how long it will take to recoup the cost of the purchased apartment by renting it out. The frighteningly high figures in Kharkov are still due to the war and its imprint on the life of the city, so with the cessation of hostilities the situation may change dramatically. The lowest and most pleasant indicator is found in a city that is not included in our top five - investments in real estate in Ivano-Frankivsk will begin to bring net profit after just 10 years. The aristocratic town is actively being developed - ultra-modern residential complexes are appearing next to the ancient houses from the time of Hetman Andrzej Potocki. The cultural spirit of bygone eras and the trend of not even the present, but the future, is an excellent combination for your property has become a source of passive income.
How much backbreaking work does it take to buy your first apartment?
One of the most popular sites for searching for real estate, DIM.RIA, together with an equally popular platform for professional self-realization, Rabota.ua, decided to compare a person’s ambitions with his real capabilities. For the analysis, we chose the largest cities in the country, the most popular and most profitable professions. To make the calculations easier, analysts removed variable factors from the equation and went with the “maximum plan,” in which the future investor would be able to save all his profits to the last penny. Even under such unrealistic conditions, the numbers turned out to be considerable.
You will hardly be surprised by the fact that you can earn the most in the capital. The average salary of Kiev residents is 23,600 hryvnia, while the cost of an average one-room apartment on the primary market reaches 3,499,336 hryvnia. Provided that you do not eat, drink, exist like an ordinary person and can carefully save 140 full salaries, the apartment of your most modest dreams will be yours after 12 years of stable work in a more or less favorite position. Outside the capital, the situation, although not much, is changing:
- in Lviv – 11 years;
- in Dnieper – 10 years;
- in Ivano-Frankivsk – 9 years;
- in Cherkassy – 8 years;
- in Transcarpathia – 8 years;
- in Chernigov – 5 years.
*it is worth considering that the analysis takes into account prices for new buildings not just in cities, but throughout the entire region.
Is the secondary market more accessible? Definitely! But not as much as I would like. The same one-room apartment, but on the secondary market, will cost about 3,070,637 hryvnia in the capital. With the same salary, it will be possible to save for it in 11 years. As for other areas, here too the period is reduced by an average of 1 year, but not always:
- in Ivano-Frankivsk – 11 years;
- in Lviv – 10 years;
- in Uzhgorod – 9 years;
- in Vinnitsa – 9 years.
*all prices and wages are relevant for the first quarter of 2024.
The record holder is the Kirovograd region - the total economy mode will allow you to become the owner of a one-room apartment in just 2 years.
We can only hope that the value of real estate will decrease and profits will increase... Or don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Many developers are developing flexible installment plans. Such an investment in the primary market does not feel as painful as if you had to pay the entire amount at once. It is enough to save up for a down payment and gradually make smaller payments. Even in the secondary market there is an opportunity to cheat - rent with subsequent purchase will allow you to move into a new house and with each new payment get closer to your complete dominance in it.