The key facts
- The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Kyiv fell over two months from 18,000 to 15,000 hryvnias, according to the LUN service
- Realtor Andriy Romanov estimated the decline in the number of tenants in the capital at 25–30%, and the growth of available properties at at least a third
- In Uzhhorod, rents for one-bedroom apartments rose by 43% from May to November, with individual listings reaching $1,200–1,300
Rental prices in Kyiv are falling
Rental housing in Kyiv has become noticeably cheaper: according to the LUN real estate service, over two months the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment fell from 18,000 to 15,000 hryvnias, two-bedroom apartments dropped from 25,000 to 22,000, and three-bedroom apartments lost more than five thousand in the first month of autumn — from 40,500 to 35,000 hryvnias. This is reported by Life.ru, citing the Ukrainian publication Strana.ua. Some one-bedroom apartments in areas with power outages and near industrial facilities are being rented out for as little as 6,000–8,000 hryvnias per month.
What market participants say
Andriy Romanov, head of the KyivDomService agency, estimated the decline in rates over the past month at 10–15%, and up to 30% for individual properties. According to him, back in September a one-bedroom apartment in a relatively new residential complex on the left bank of the Dnipro was offered for 20,000–22,000 hryvnias; now similar housing can be found for 13,000, and some older apartments have dropped in price from 11,000–12,000 to 6,000–8,000 hryvnias — yet few people want to rent them. Experts see the reason in a shift in the balance of supply and demand: over two months, the number of potential tenants in the capital, by Romanov's estimate, decreased by 25–30%, while the number of available properties grew by at least a third.
Residents leaving and rising prices in the west
Romanov also suggested that up to 500,000 people may have left Kyiv since the summer — this is his personal estimate, not official migration data. According to him, residents are moving to the suburbs, where it is easier to arrange autonomous heating and power supply, or to western regions. The movement of tenants is affecting prices in other cities: in Lviv, the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment rose from 22,800 to 25,300 hryvnias since September, and in Vinnytsia from 22,000 to 23,000. The sharpest increase was recorded in Uzhhorod: according to LUN, rates for one-bedroom apartments grew by 43% from May to November, and individual listings, according to Romanov, reach $1,200–1,300, compared with $700–750 in the summer. Due to the limited number of listings, the service does not publish separate monthly dynamics for the city.
Context: the power grid and daily life
The publication links the exodus to everyday hardships: earlier, Kyiv residents spoke of prolonged power outages, water shortages and difficulties getting around, which led some families to consider moving before winter; some parents are temporarily taking their children out of the capital, but work and the lack of alternative housing force many to stay. On November 5, emergency power outages were introduced in Kyiv and four regions — Zhytomyr, Chernihiv and Cherkasy, as well as the capital region — replacing the usual hourly schedules. A few days earlier, outages had led to the shutdown of part of the electric transport and disruptions to the water supply.
Forecasts and data limitations
Experts do not rule out that the trend will continue: according to Romanov's forecast, rents in Kyiv may fall by at least another 10% during November, while in cities that displaced people consider relatively safe, growing demand could push prices up. It should be noted that the key figures on population departure and the forecasts belong to a market participant, and no official migration statistics are cited in the publication; the confirmed measurable data are the price dynamics from the LUN service and the introduction of emergency outages on November 5.
