Renting an apartment: how many years will it take for the costs to be equal to its value
25 November 2025 15:12
On average, in large cities of Ukraine, the cost of renting an apartment is equal to the cost of buying one in about 12-14 years. In cities with a quick payback period, it is more profitable to buy a home, while in regions with a longer payback period, renting remains a practical solution.
When renting in large cities of Ukraine becomes equivalent to buying a home on the secondary market. For comparison, we took the median cost of renting a one-bedroom apartment and buying it on the secondary market in the largest cities of Ukraine.
This is stated in the analytics of OLX Real Estate, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
So, how many years do you need to rent an apartment to “overpay” its cost?
Cities with the fastest payback period
The shortest period when rental costs “catch up” with the cost of buying an apartment is observed in Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, and Uzhhorod.
- Dnipro – rent 10,500 UAH, purchase 1,125,625 UAH, payback period 9 years.
- Zaporizhzhia – rent 5,000 UAH, purchase 624,153 UAH, payback period 11 years.
- Lviv – rent 18,000 UAH, purchase UAH 2,270,202 million, payback period 11 years.
- Uzhhorod – rent UAH 18,723, purchase UAH 2,486,918, payback period of 12 years.
Residents of these cities will need less than 12 years of monthly rent payments to make the amount equal to the cost of an apartment.
Cities with a longer payback period
More than 15 years of rent is needed to equal the cost of buying an apartment in Kharkiv, Odesa, and Kyiv.
- Kharkiv – rent 5,000 UAH, purchase 865,490 UAH, payback period 15 years.
- Odesa – rent 10,000 UAH, purchase 1,747,628 UAH, payback period 15 years.
- Kyiv – rent 16,000 UAH, purchase 3,197,833 UAH, payback period 17 years.
In these cities, housing costs remain the highest in Ukraine, so renting pays off more slowly than buying. For tenants, this means that renting short-term is more profitable than buying outright.
The difference between cities shows that the rental market in Ukraine remains very different. Where the rent equals the price of a home in less than ten years, buying looks more cost-effective. At the same time, in large cities with high property values, such as Kyiv and Odesa, renting remains a more rational choice in the short and medium term.
The government program “eOselya” can be used as a tool for buying an apartment, under which Ukrainians can purchase housing on preferential terms with an interest rate of 3% to 7% per annum. This is especially true in cities with a quick payback period, where owning an apartment becomes not only a home but also a profitable investment.
If a tenant plans to live in the same city for more than 12-15 years, buying their own apartment may be a more financially viable solution.
