In recent months, and especially in recent weeks, the situation in Kyiv has become downright dire. Constant missile strikes by Russia, unrelenting drone attacks—sometimes they don’t stop for an entire day or even longer. This is taking a toll on logistics: it’s often very difficult to get from the right bank to the left; attacks on the bridges across the Dnipro have begun; Kyiv residents are regularly left without electricity and water; and, overall, the situation in the city has become much more dire. All of this is happening on the eve of the heating season and winter, for which the capital is objectively unprepared.
As a result, a certain portion of Kyiv’s residents has already left the city, while others are “living out of suitcases.” In the winter, there were about 600,000 such people; we do not know the current number, as there is no publicly available information. But it’s clear that we’re definitely talking about tens of thousands of people, and possibly even more. This is confirmed by the fact that rental prices in the capital have dropped significantly recently and many new listings have appeared, indicating that apartments are becoming available.
What is the current situation in Kyiv, how is the rental market reacting, and what do experts say? UA.News investigated the issue.
“Nomads” in the Capital: Who Is Leaving Kyiv and Why
A good half of Kyiv’s population consists of newcomers: internally displaced persons (IDPs), migrants, and people from other regions seeking a better life and higher-paying jobs, among other things. In other words, they are a sort of modern Ukrainian “nomads.” They used to come to Kyiv because it’s the capital: it’s protected, relatively safe, and offers a relatively comfortable life even during wartime. That’s what Kyiv was like from the summer of 2022 all the way through 2025–2026. But those days, unfortunately, are gone for good. Now Kyiv is a rather uncomfortable city to live in.
In the winter of 2026, the capital barely avoided a full-scale blackout and total catastrophe. Heated tents from the State Emergency Service were already set up on the streets, there were power outages for 18–22 hours a day, and so on. And since the summer, Kyiv has been under active attack by ballistic missiles and drones—de facto, almost every day. Lately, things have only been getting worse, and sometimes it even happens that, due to a lack of U.S. intelligence, ballistic missiles strike first—against which there is no defense due to a shortage of anti-missile systems like the Patriot—and only then is an alert issued.
Given all this, migration flows out of Kyiv are actively increasing. There is ample evidence to support this claim. First, there are official statements from the authorities: even the highest levels of the local administration are directly urging residents to leave the city if possible. Second, numerous related posts on social media indicate that people are leaving. Third, there are significantly more apartments available for rent in Kyiv, and prices, with rare exceptions, have fallen. Fourth, rental prices in the regions of Western Ukraine have risen sharply (in some cases by hundreds of percent!)—people there are already “waiting” for Kyiv residents with money.
According to LUN, from August 1 to October 2, the number of active apartment rental listings in Kyiv increased by more than 60%. In the last week alone, supply rose by 5.4%, and over the past two months—by 66%. This isn’t just a seasonal phenomenon, but a sign: if apartments are becoming vacant, it means people are leaving. Apartment prices, meanwhile, have generally fallen by 4% to 14%, depending on the number of rooms.
Who are these people who are leaving? They are not just native Kyiv residents: those, in fact, are mostly staying in their own homes. According to data from the Ministry of Social Policy, as of fall 2025, there were over 433,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) registered in Kyiv. These are people who were already forced to leave their homes because of the war. Now they are leaving again. Also leaving are those who are more mobile, not tied to a specific job, and have the financial means to relocate. It’s hard to say exactly how many such people there are, but the number is clearly in the tens of thousands at the very least. It’s likely that as the cold weather sets in, the number of such people will increase.
Changes in the rental market: numbers that speak for themselves
The residential rental market in Kyiv is actively responding to all the developments taking place in the city. And this reaction is not in the landlords’ favor.
According to the Ministry of Finance, as early as August 2026, several trends emerged simultaneously in the rental market of the capital and the surrounding region. First, against the backdrop of shelling, migration to the suburbs began: people were leaving en masse for Kyiv’s satellite cities, where they believed it would be calmer. Second, gloomy forecasts about a difficult coming winter were coming true—and in those same suburbs, there are many housing options with gas stoves and independent heating. As a result, whereas previously 70% of renters were looking for housing in the capital and only 30% in the suburbs, the ratio is now roughly 50-50.
This is also confirmed by more recent data. People are leaving Kyiv as ballistic attacks intensify. Many note that the suburbs are relatively calmer, since the bulk of enemy missiles are targeting the capital, and this is driving tenants’ choices. Irpin, Bucha, Hatne, Gostomel, and Boryspil—these towns are currently at the peak of search volume.
What’s happening with prices? According to data from LUN, demand for one-bedroom apartments in Kyiv fell in September 2026, and the median price dropped to 16,500 UAH amid security risks. The number of people looking to rent such housing dropped by about 20%. Overall in Kyiv, the median rental price for a one-bedroom apartment fell from 18,000 to 17,000 UAH between September 24 and October 5—a decrease of 5.6%.
This is, so to speak, the “average temperature in the ward.” But the situation is actually very uneven. In the most dangerous neighborhoods—Lukyanivka, Sviatoshyn, Zhuliany, Solomyanka, Darnytsia, and to some extent Dniprovskyi, Desnianskyi, and Shevchenkivskyi—demand is plummeting. Landlords are trying to attract tenants with steep discounts: in Lukyanivka, for example, owners are willing to reduce the price by 30% or more. An apartment that previously cost 20,000–25,000 may now be rented for 15,000–17,000. However, even this doesn’t always help.
The highest demand in Kyiv is for small and relatively inexpensive apartments (up to 15,000) in areas considered relatively “safe.” There is already a shortage of such housing.
In the suburbs, the trend is different. Prices have even jumped by 10–15% in a month, but this applies only to housing in relatively new standalone buildings and farther away from industrial zones and warehouses. Many apartments in the suburbs are already being rented at Kyiv prices. For example, in Irpin, a one-bedroom apartment in a new residential complex goes for 16,000–19,000 UAH per month. Houses and townhouses near Kyiv cost at least $1,000 per month, and there’s literally a waiting list for them.
And what about Western Ukraine? Prices are rising there, too. According to LUN statistics, over the past year, the cost of a one-bedroom apartment in Lviv has risen by 25%, in Ivano-Frankivsk by 44%, and in Uzhhorod by as much as 82%. According to media reports, paying 45,000 UAH to rent a one-bedroom apartment in Uzhhorod is now quite common. Construction cranes are visible at every turn in the city, where new buildings are being actively constructed. As for rentals, even for high prices, some residential complexes refuse to rent to families with children or dogs.
The market is relentless: while some are fleeing their homes to escape constant enemy attacks and unbearable living conditions, others are making a fortune off of it. As a reminder, as of August, the average salary in Ukraine was 31,892 UAH.
Expert
Opinions
Real estate agents’ forecasts for the fall and winter of 2026–2027 are quite clear: rental prices in Kyiv will continue to fall. Yuriy Pita, president of the Ukrainian Association of Realtors, predicts that apartment rental prices in Kyiv will fall by another 20% or so this winter. This makes sense: if people are leaving and supply is increasing, prices simply cannot remain at their previous levels. At the same time, housing costs in western Ukraine will continue to rise.
Maria Kolot, a real estate rental consultant, also believes the situation is clear. Because shelling is intensifying and winter is coming soon—when heating will clearly be shut off and there are already problems with electricity—people are moving to more self-sufficient areas whenever possible. These may be homes in the Kyiv region or even farther away. For the most part, those who can afford it are heading to Zakarpattia.
“But apartments in the capital will still be rented out. Perhaps not with the same demand as in the summer, but still. At the very least, there are people who are tied to their jobs; they can’t leave. And if they work somewhere in the city center, they’ll try to find a place to rent near the center… Of course, overall demand has decreased. Prices have also fallen. That said, they haven’t dropped by 50+%, as they did at the start of the war, but they have fallen nonetheless. Everyone understands what’s coming: that heating might be cut off, that the power might be shut off. That’s exactly why prices here haven’t fallen as sharply as they did at the start of the war. On average, by 20–30%—but it all depends on the specific property.
If a property has fully autonomous heating, if the elevators run on generators, and so on, then prices there are falling by 10–15%. As for apartment listings, there are indeed plenty of them. But you have to look at where they’re located: they’re either in old buildings, where there likely won’t be any heat at all in the winter, or they’re apartments that cost a fortune—$2,000–3,000 and up. For the same amount of money, you can rent a completely self-sufficient house. So, on the one hand, there really are more apartments available, but on the other hand, this doesn’t mean that absolutely everyone is leaving Kyiv,” the expert asserts.
Kyiv resident Denis G., who rents out two of his own apartments in the Darnytskyi district, notes that the situation has objectively worsened recently.
“Tenants moved out of both of my apartments within about three weeks of each other. Some gave advance notice, while others had to leave due to the poor security situation. There’s a lot of shelling in the area, but fortunately, it’s quite far from us. Nevertheless, I’ve already found tenants for one of the apartments, but I’m still looking for tenants for the other. I’ve already lowered the price by 2,000 UAH, but so far to no avail. The closer we get to winter, the worse the situation will become, so I hope to find someone sooner. I may have to lower the price even further,” the man told UA.News.
In
summary, Kyiv in the fall of 2026 is a city that is gradually losing its residents. The rental market is also feeling the impact: supply has risen by 66% in two months, prices are falling, and in the most dangerous neighborhoods, landlords are willing to rent out apartments at a discount of 30% or more. People are moving to the suburbs: it’s quieter there, and there are more detached homes. Those who can afford it are moving to Western Ukraine—it’s significantly more expensive there, but also much safer.
Local authorities are also adding fuel to the fire. Instead of properly preparing the capital for the cold season, the mayor and other officials are taking a “out of the way, out of sight” approach, suggesting that residents simply leave on their own to wherever they please.
On the one hand, it’s hard to say what will happen next (because no one knows for sure); on the other hand, it’s quite simple. If this winter is as harsh as the last one, the exodus will continue. Rent prices in Kyiv will fall even further, while in the suburbs and in the west, they will rise. Once the situation stabilizes—which, most likely, won’t happen until at least the spring of 2027—people will begin returning to the capital, and rental prices will gradually start to creep back up.
