Romania entered the top five EU countries with the cheapest mortgages this year, 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.<\/p>\n
The average monthly instalment on the mortgage needed to buy a one-bedroom apartment in Bucharest, built at least 30 years ago and located outside semi-central areas, currently accounts for approximately 40% of the net average wage recorded locally.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Romania\u2019s capital is the second most affordable mortgage market in the region and the first among countries that have not adopted the euro. Only Sofia recorded a lower instalment-to-wage ratio, at just 35%. Bulgaria\u2019s 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 at just 2.75%.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Mortgages in Budapest were 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 accounted for 64% of the local average income.<\/p>\n
An even higher level was recorded in Chisinau, where the instalment-to-wage ratio stood at 75%, and in Prague, where the average mortgage instalment needed to buy a mass-market one-bedroom apartment located outside semi-central areas represented 89% of the local average income.<\/p>\n
\u201cHome 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 \u2014 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 the Czech Republic 5.25%, and in Moldova almost 8%,\u201d said Laurentiu Bogdan, Managing Partner at Ipotecare.ro.<\/p>\n
Countries that have adopted the euro have lower mortgage interest rates because inflation in these countries is much lower, he added.<\/p>\n
After Sofia, the lowest value of the instalment-to-wage indicator was recorded in Rome, where the average mortgage instalment needed to buy a mass-market one-bedroom apartment represented 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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s capital has entered the top five most mortgage-affordable capitals.<\/p>\n
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%.<\/p>\n
Despite the encouraging macro data, many Romanians found it increasingly difficult to pay their debts to banks or non-banking financial institutions in recent years. According to the National Bank of Romania, the rate of non-performing loans increased from 2.68% in December 2025 to 2.83% in March 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another indicator of economic difficulty is the number of personal insolvencies. The process allows homes to be liquidated to recover debts, but authorities are attempting to include homes in the unseizable assets category, under certain conditions.<\/p>\n
In the last eight years, 1,000 Romanians have resorted to personal insolvency. Since the beginning of the year, more than 100 such requests have been registered, according to Digi24<\/a>.<\/p>\n