LUN, in cooperation with the National Bank of Ukraine, has calculated the average down payment under the state mortgage program «eOselya» for purchasing the cheapest apartment in the primary market across the country's largest cities. The purpose of the study is to provide potential borrowers with a realistic picture of the amount of personal funds needed at the start before applying to a bank for a loan. It is important to understand that the down payment is only one component: processing an «eOselya» mortgage also involves a bank commission, real estate valuation, notary services, property insurance, and, in certain cases, a pension fund fee.

Down Payment: From 174 Thousand to 904 Thousand hryvnias

The range of amounts across cities turned out to be significant. The largest down payment will have to be saved in Lviv — UAH 904 thousand. This is followed by Kyiv (UAH 750 thousand), Uzhhorod (UAH 697 thousand), Vinnytsia (UAH 660 thousand), and Rivne (UAH 545 thousand). In the middle of the ranking are Chernivtsi (UAH 489 thousand), Ternopil (UAH 476 thousand), Odesa (UAH 449 thousand), Zhytomyr (UAH 428 thousand), Kropyvnytskyi (UAH 406 thousand), Dnipro (UAH 399 thousand), Ivano-Frankivsk (UAH 395 thousand), Lutsk (UAH 383 thousand), Poltava (UAH 365 thousand), Khmelnytskyi (UAH 363 thousand), Cherkasy (UAH 352 thousand), and Chernihiv (UAH 315 thousand). The minimum amounts were recorded in Sumy (UAH 234 thousand), Kharkiv (UAH 230 thousand), Mykolaiv (UAH 185 thousand), and Zaporizhzhia (UAH 174 thousand). The difference between the maximum and minimum down payments exceeds five times, highlighting significant regional differentiation in housing prices.

What Additional Expenses Include

The down payment is not the only amount that needs to be prepared at the time of application. The buyer pays a bank commission for processing the loan, an independent real estate valuation, notary services for certifying the transaction, and property insurance. Insurance is not a one-time payment: it must be paid annually throughout the entire loan term. If the apartment is purchased on the secondary market, the calculation additionally includes a state duty of 1% of the property's value. The exact amounts of payments depend on the specific bank and loan conditions, so the figures may differ for each transaction.

Approximate Calculation: An Apartment Worth 2.5 Million hryvnias

For clarity, LUN provided a calculation using the example of an apartment worth UAH 2.5 million with a 20% down payment (UAH 500 thousand of personal funds) and a mortgage loan for the remaining UAH 2 million. According to the provided tariffs, total additional expenses — bank commission, valuation, notary, and insurance for the first year — will range from UAH 41,250 to 46,250. If the buyer is required to pay the pension fund fee, the total amount of additional payments will rise to UAH 66,250–71,250. When buying on the secondary market, taking into account the state duty of UAH 25 thousand, expenses can reach UAH 91,250–96,250. Thus, in addition to the UAH 500 thousand down payment, the buyer needs to additionally prepare approximately UAH 41–96 thousand. The final amount depends on the tariffs of the chosen bank, the terms of the specific transaction, and the borrower's right to exemption from certain payments.

Context: Rent and Market Dynamics

The calculations by LUN and the NBU come against the backdrop of noticeable changes in the Ukrainian real estate market. According to previously published data, house rents in the Kyiv region have risen by 120% over three years and almost caught up with capital prices: suburban housing now costs UAH 99.1 thousand per month, while in Kyiv it is UAH 104 thousand. At the same time, the number of housing sales listings in Kyiv decreased by 4% over the year, in Ivano-Frankivsk by 27%, while in Odesa the number of offers increased by almost a third. These trends form the general background against which potential borrowers decide to buy their own housing through the «eOselya» program.