How much does it cost to buy a vacation house in Ukraine?

Ukraine boasts some magnificent natural beauty, from the rugged Carpathian Mountains to forest and steppes, the banks of the broad Dnipro River, and the enchanting Black Sea coasts.

Any of these places would be a great site for a vacation home, and with the two-thirds devaluation of the hryvnia since 2014, it’s never been cheaper to buy a dacha, cottage or house in the country.

The Kyiv Post checked out cottages and houses for sale near Kyiv, in coastal areas and in the mountains for a range of prices, based on real estate classified ads aggregated by websites lun.ua, dom.ria, address.ua and others.

Kyiv Oblast

Those who want to get out of the big city but don’t want to travel too far from Kyiv have an extensive variety of cottage houses and private homes to choose from in Kyiv’s suburbs.

Apart from being close to the city, the country around Kyiv is beautiful, with pine forests and numerous lakes, as well as the mighty Dnipro River.

According to the address.ua real estate aggregator, a house in Kyiv Oblast with less than 100 square meters costs around $30,000.

However, most of those cheaper than $50,000 are modest, Soviet-era “dacha”-type constructions. For instance, a three-floor summer house in the village of Vyshenky (40 minutes from Kyiv by car) with old furnishings is listed for only $27,000.

The average price of a house ranging from 100 to 200 square meters is around $70,000. For this price, buyers can expect to get a smaller summer house that has been recently repaired by its former owners. Generally, the summer houses that are listed on real estate aggregator websites for less than $100,000 either have no furniture or an old-fashioned design (a brick fireplace, Soviet-style carpets, old TV sets, and so on).

The prices of houses in the more modern cottage villages that have sprung up around Kyiv in recent years, which often have security and are connected to utilities networks, start from around $80,000 for homes that are currently being built.

The price of a new build starts from approximately $150,000, while a property from 200 to 400 square meters costs approximately $170,000. For example, the 174-square-meter unfurnished white-brick house in the resort village of Novosilky, about an hour from Kyiv by car, is on sale for $170,000.

For the price of a high-end apartment in Kyiv — about $500,000 — one would buy a spacious house in the luxury segment in one of the prestige villages near Kyiv, such as Koncha Zaspa, just 20 minutes’ drive from the city center.

However, the highest prices are those for homes in private cottage villages such as Riviera Villas, where 400-square-meter houses are on offer at lun.ua for as much as $2 million. The price includes developed infrastructure, such as kindergartens, spa clubs, swimming pools, tennis courts, football and volleyball grounds, playgrounds, beaches, restaurants, and a pier for boats.

Near the sea

Since Russia started its occupation of Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014, the villages and cities in the south of the mainland in Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kherson Oblasts at the Black Sea shore have become hot spots for those vacationing near the sea.

The widest choice of expensive summer houses can be found in Odesa, a city of nearly one million people, and at popular resorts close to the city, such as the villages of Zatoka or Koblevo.

According to real estate aggregator address.ua, in Odesa Oblast the prices for cottages are even higher than in Kyiv: the average price for a house of up to 100 square meters in area is $46,000, for a house of 100–200 square meters — $120,000, for one 200–400 square meters — $240,000, and the biggest ones, larger than 400 square meters, the cost goes up to around $520,000.

Those looking for a summer house cheaper than $50,000 would be unlikely to find anything fancier than old Soviet-style houses or unfinished constructions in the suburbs of Odesa.

Those for whom location is more important than size can opt for a 70–80-square-meter house not far from the sea in the Prymorsky and Kyivsky districts in the south of Odesa for $50,000–100,000. The area has lots of shops, good beaches, and is located just 15 minutes away from the city center and only 10 minutes from Odesa International Airport. Larger houses in the same area mostly cost around $160,000–200,000.

Prices in other oblasts are cheaper: In Mykolaiv Oblast, one can buy a house of 70 square meters in the town of Ochakiv near the Black Sea coast for $37,000. A house of 140 square meters in the same town costs $85,000. One can also find relatively cheap options in the nearby town of Luhove, for $20,000–40,000. However, most of the houses on sale are of Soviet design and will probably be in need of repair. Moreover, the smaller towns in Mykolaiv Oblast tend to have ramshackle infrastructure and poor roads, and not many big stores nearby.

Houses at similar prices, from $20,000 for an 80-square-meter house near the Black Sea, can be found in seaside and riverside villages in Kherson Oblast, such as Skadovsk, Zaliznyi Port, Gola Prystan, and others. Such villages, however, all suffer similar problems: bad roads, a lack of big stores, and not many options for a night out.

Moreover, the Black Sea near Kherson and Mykolaiv Oblast can be full of jellyfish and tangled with seaweed in summer. In other places, the coasts are edged with mud flats rather than sandy beaches.

Western Ukraine

Another popular vacation destination is the Carpathian Mountains in western Ukraine, which attract crowds of tourists with their magnificent landscapes.

Houses with breathtaking views are for sale here for more affordable prices than near Kyiv or Odesa. The main disadvantages, however, are poor roads and undeveloped infrastructure in the smaller villages that are off the tourist trails.

A decent wooden house will sell for less than $50,000. For example, a house of 140 square meters with three bedrooms in Verhovyna in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, some 620 kilometers from Kyiv, costs $48,000. The average price of a house in Zakarpattya Oblast in the west is $86,000, according to address.ua.

Those looking for a bit more will find plenty of options in the large villages of Yaremche and in Bukovel, the popular ski resort. But expect to pay a lot more — current options include an 819-square-meter, 12-room house near the ski slopes in Bukovel, which is on offer for $1.57 million.