The decline in mortgage interest rates recorded over the past six months across European Union countries has improved the affordability of mortgage financing, with Romania entering the top five countries with the cheapest mortgages, taking into account average wages and the costs of buying a one-bedroom apartment through a mortgage loan, according to a report issued by the online broker Ipotecare.ro.
Thus, the average monthly instalment on the mortgage needed to buy a one-bedroom apartment in Bucharest, completed at least 30 years ago and located outside semi-central areas, currently accounts for approximately 40% of the net average wage recorded locally.
The Ipotecare.ro analysis considered the purchase of a flat with a usable area of 50 square metres, valued at EUR 115,000, and an average fixed interest rate of 5.25% — the current average level recorded for mortgages granted in Bucharest.
Romania’s capital is therefore the second most affordable mortgage market in the region and the first among countries that have not adopted the Euro. Only Sofia records a lower instalment-to-wage ratio, at just 35% — Bulgaria’s capital is also the city with the most affordable mortgages in the European Union, with the average annual fixed interest rate for a mortgage contracted in Euros standing at just 2.75%.
Central and Eastern European countries have, in fact, recorded the most notable improvements in mortgage affordability over the past six months. For example, the level of the indicator calculated by Ipotecare.ro fell by 11% in Warsaw, where the average instalment needed to buy a one-bedroom apartment currently represents 71% of the local average wage.
Mortgages in Budapest are similarly difficult to afford, despite the improvement recorded in the first part of 2026 — the average instalment needed to buy a one-bedroom apartment in the Hungarian capital accounts for 64% of the local average income.
An even higher level is recorded in Chisinau, where the instalment-to-wage ratio stands at 75%, and in Prague, where the average mortgage instalment needed to buy a mass-market one-bedroom apartment located outside semi-central areas represents 89% of the local average income.
“Mortgage financing has become more accessible in 2026 across the European Union as a result of falling interest rates. Home loans granted in Bucharest have an average fixed interest rate of 5.25%, while the best offers reach values as low as 4.55%, 2% below the monetary policy interest rate set by the National Bank — a unique case at European level! Romania has the lowest mortgage interest rates among the countries that have not adopted the Euro: the average fixed interest rate in Hungary is 7.21%, in Poland 6.70%, in Czech Republic 5.25% and in Moldova almost 8%. Countries that have adopted the Euro have lower mortgage interest rates because inflation in these countries is much lower, on average more than three times lower than in Romania, which also leads to lower financing costs,” explained Laurentiu Bogdan, Managing Partner at Ipotecare.ro.
After Sofia, the lowest value of the instalment-to-wage indicator is recorded in Rome, where the average mortgage instalment needed to buy a mass-market one-bedroom apartment represents 36% of the local average income, two percentage points lower than at the end of last year, and in Berlin, where the indicator calculated by Ipotecare.ro stands at around 38%, the same as six months ago.
Fourth place among the most affordable mortgage markets in Europe is held by Vienna, where the average instalment has reached 39% of average income, down from 41% at the end of last year. Bucharest ranks immediately afterwards, with an instalment-to-wage ratio of 40%, meaning Romania’s capital has entered the top five most mortgage-affordable capitals.
At the opposite end, the cities with the lowest level of mortgage affordability are Prague, where the instalment-to-wage ratio reaches 89%, London, where the average instalment needed to buy a one-bedroom apartment accounts for 86% of the average net wage, and Paris, where the instalment-to-wage ratio reaches 83%.
The Ipotecare.ro analysis considered the purchase of a mass-market one-bedroom apartment, with a usable area of 50 square metres, completed at least 30 years ago and located outside the central and semi-central areas of several European Union capitals. The analysis also considered a 25-year mortgage, with a 15% downpayment and a fixed interest rate for the first five years, excluding associated costs such as commissions, notarial fees or insurance. To determine the interest rate, fixed-rate mortgages from the top three banks in each country analysed were taken into account.
Ipotecare.ro is an exclusively online mortgage broker that uses multiple calculation algorithms to generate the most suitable financing options. In 2025, Ipotecare.ro processed approximately 27,500 complex simulations, brokered more than 600 mortgages and currently has more than 1,000 in progress.
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