Tokyo ranked first in the world in terms of the rate of growth in luxury housing prices in the first quarter of 2026, according to Knight Frank’s Prime Global Cities Index.
Over the past 12 months, luxury housing in the Japanese capital has risen in price by 44.4%. However, compared to the previous quarter, prices fell by 8.6%, marking the weakest quarterly performance among the cities tracked.
Manila took second place, where the cost of premium housing rose by 19.9% year-over-year and by 3.3% quarter-over-quarter.
Dubai ranked third with year-over-year growth of 13%. However, prices in the emirate fell by 0.8% in the first quarter.
Next were Seoul with an 11.3% increase, Singapore with 9.8%, Mumbai with 8.2%, Nairobi with 7.1%, Perth with 6.2%, Bangalore with 5.2%, and Zurich with 4.8%.
Seoul showed the strongest quarterly performance, with luxury housing prices rising by 5.4% over three months. Prices rose by 5% in San Francisco, 3.3% in Manila, and 3% in Bangalore and Miami.
Asian cities took five of the top six spots in the ranking, reflecting stable demand for premium real estate from affluent local and international buyers.
Dubai remains the leader in the longer term as well. Over five years, from the first quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of 2026, prices for premium housing in the emirate rose by 180.7%. In Tokyo, the increase was 126.4%; in Manila, 91.8%; in Seoul, 71.5%; and in Miami, 64.4%.
Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities are not included in the study.
The median price of apartments in Ukraine rose by 3% between January and June 2026—to $61,000—with Uzhhorod nearly catching up to the capital in terms of housing prices, according to an OLX study.
According to the platform’s analytical center, the apartment market in Ukraine showed moderate growth in the first half of 2026. The number of listings increased by 4%, and the average number of responses per listing rose by 3%; the median price of apartments in dollars increased by 3% and stood at $61,090 as of June.
The most significant increase in the price of one-bedroom apartments on the secondary market was recorded in Vinnytsia (+11%), Khmelnytskyi (+9%), as well as Chernivtsi and Zaporizhzhia (both +7%). Price declines were observed in Kherson (-13%), Rivne (-4%), and Kyiv (-3%).
Kyiv has so far managed to retain first place in terms of real estate prices ($75,040 median price for a one-bedroom apartment), followed by Uzhhorod ($74,749) in second place and Lviv ($73,805) in third. The lowest prices were in Kherson ($13,235), Zaporizhzhia ($15,935), and Mykolaiv ($20,217).
In Ukraine’s largest cities, the trend in one-bedroom apartment prices varied by district. The most consistent price growth was observed in Odesa, where apartment prices rose by 2–4% across all districts. The most expensive apartments were in the Primorsky District ($65,449), while the most affordable were in the Peresypsky District ($32,388).
In Kharkiv, the largest increases were recorded in the Industrial (+15%, to $23,678), Slobidskyi (+13%, to $24,363), and Osnovyanskyi (+11%, to $34,403) districts.
In Lviv, most districts also saw an increase in housing prices, with the most significant increases occurring in the Zaliznychny (+12%, to $72,874) and Frankivskyi (+9%, to $75,320) districts.
At the same time, prices in Kyiv mostly remained stable or declined, with the sharpest drop in the Dniprovskyi district (-10%). Pecherskyi remains the most expensive ($163,134), while Desnianskyi is the most affordable ($44,859).
The trend in Dnipro was the most mixed: depending on the district, price changes ranged from +17% in the Soborny district ($43,926) to -22% in the Shevchenkivskyi district ($31,998).
According to Experts.new, following a period of relative calm, housing prices in Ukraine have begun to rise again, as stated in the National Bank of Ukraine’s June Financial Stability Report.
According to the NBU, housing prices have risen over the past six months. In the primary market, advertised prices increased roughly in proportion to the hryvnia’s devaluation, as real estate prices in Ukraine are traditionally quoted in U.S. dollars. In the secondary market, the increase was faster—5–10 percentage points higher than the devaluation.
An additional factor was the sharp rise in the cost of construction due to a surge in fuel prices. This intensified upward pressure on prices for new construction and limited developers’ ability to keep prices at previous levels.
At the same time, the NBU notes that housing prices remain historically low relative to household incomes. In the first quarter of 2026, the housing price-to-income ratio stood at 8.7x for the primary market and 8.6x for the secondary market.
The situation is different in the rental market. Due to winter attacks on energy infrastructure and the associated risks, the growth in rental rates has slowed. In Kyiv, the south, and the center of the country, rental costs have remained virtually unchanged since last fall. Price increases continued mainly in the western regions.
The price-to-rent ratio for secondary housing rose slightly in the first quarter to 10.4x, but still did not exceed the long-term average.
For buyers, this means that housing remains relatively affordable by historical standards, but uncertainty, security concerns, and the state of the energy infrastructure continue to limit demand. For investors, the situation is less clear-cut: rising purchase prices coupled with nearly stable rents reduce the short-term appeal of buying housing for rental purposes, especially in Kyiv and the central regions.
In the medium term, market dynamics will depend on the hryvnia exchange rate, the cost of construction, security, the state of the energy sector, and the resumption of mortgage lending.
HOUSING, NBU, PRICE, REAL ESTATE, rent
Fuel prices in Ukraine continue to decline—this applies primarily to diesel, which has dropped by another 1–3 UAH per liter over the past five days, according to price monitoring at select gas station chains conducted by Energoreforma.
According to the report, natural gas prices have also fallen by up to 1 UAH per liter.
Gasoline prices remain stable, at the same level as on June 17.
According to calculations by Serhiy Kuyun, director of the consulting firm “A-95,” the price of diesel fuel has already dropped by more than 12 UAH per liter from its peak of over 90 UAH per liter.
He noted that at the start of the crisis, the price of diesel fuel was 62 UAH per liter.
The expert also pointed out that smaller retail chains, which do not have remaining stocks of fuel purchased at high prices, are lowering their prices more aggressively.
Regarding gasoline, Kuyun explained that there is no noticeable downward trend, since the difference between the purchase price (customs value) and the retail price during the “Iranian crisis” only returned to its pre-crisis February level in June.
“In other words, there are no excess profits that could explain the slowdown in price reductions. Gasoline margins have completely collapsed, which is why prices aren’t really falling. Gas stations’ finances are currently being propped up by diesel, though that doesn’t prevent diesel prices from falling sharply,” Kuyun wrote.
At the same time, the director of “A-95” emphasized that Russian attacks on gas station networks continue, and these losses are also putting pressure on their finances.
“Last week, one of the major chains lost an oil depot containing $1.5 million worth of fuel. Another chain reports that it suffers 15–20 ‘lightning strikes’ every week in frontline regions. WOG has already lost 6–7 gas stations, each worth $1 million. Gasoline and natural gas tankers are burning,” Kuyun described the situation.
He also noted that there had been an initiative to create a fund to compensate for these losses, but so far there are no sources of funding for it.
Kuyun pointed out that current global prices are not the only factor in pricing, but given the level of competition and the large number of gas stations, supply sources, and logistical capabilities in the Ukrainian market, in his opinion, there is no chance of operating under any rules other than market ones.
For his part, Volodymyr Omelchenko, director of energy and infrastructure programs at the Razumkov Center, noted that autogas is once again becoming more cost-effective than gasoline, having dropped by more than 5 UAH/liter in one month and more than 7 UAH/liter in two months.
Meanwhile, gasoline prices fell by only 1.1 UAH per liter over the same period. He noted that currently, a liter of LPG costs approximately 56% of the price of a liter of A-95.
Omelchenko attributed this, in particular, to a decline in the wholesale price of LPG, which fell by 3.46 UAH per liter over the past month.
According to him, propane and butane prices have fallen in Europe, and the import parity for LPG has also declined since its April peak. As of June 19, it stood at 34.43 UAH per liter, compared to 40.95 UAH per liter on April 16.
However, he also noted that the price cap at gas stations is determined not only by European quotations but also by the influence of wholesale prices, logistics, taxes, exchange rates, security risks, and the safety margins of the networks themselves.
“Therefore, a decrease in external prices does not always immediately translate into an equivalent decrease at the retail level,” Omelchenko said.
As previously reported, fuel prices in Ukraine began to decline around mid-June amid reports of a stabilizing situation in the Middle East and falling oil prices. On June 19, Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine, convened fuel market participants to discuss the situation.
He drew their attention to the fact that over the past few weeks, global markets have seen a significant drop in prices for crude oil and petroleum products, but in Ukraine, the pace of decline in retail fuel prices remains significantly slower than the pace of their previous rise.
Market participants were asked to provide further explanations regarding the reasons for the slower decline in petroleum product prices compared to their previous rapid rise, as well as the factors influencing how quickly lower petroleum product costs are reflected in prices for end consumers.
On June 17, Natalia Nikeshina, marketing director of the national network of gas stations operating under the Parallel brand, predicted that the potential for price reductions ranges from 6 UAH to 12 UAH per liter. According to her, the largest drop can be expected if European prices do indeed fall to pre-crisis levels.
The housing price index in Ukraine for January–March 2026 stands at 117.2%, compared to 111.2% for the same period in 2025, according to the State Statistics Service (SSS).
According to its data, in the primary market, prices for housing accelerated their growth to 17.3% in the first quarter of 2026, compared to 14.8% in the first quarter of last year. At the same time, apartments in the primary market rose in price by 17.3%, and single-family homes by 16.4%.
In the secondary market, prices accelerated their growth to 17.1% in January–March 2026, compared to 9.3% during the same period in 2025. Specifically, apartment prices rose by 17.9%, while house prices rose by 15.4%.
According to the statistics agency, compared to the previous quarter, housing prices rose by 6.1%, with a 4.8% increase in the primary market and a 6.6% increase in the secondary market.
In the first quarter, apartment prices in the primary market rose by 4.2% compared to the previous quarter, while house prices rose by 7.5%. In the secondary market, prices rose by 5.9% and 7.8%, respectively, the State Statistics Service noted.
The State Statistics Service also compared current price figures with the annual averages for 2019. Thus, in the first quarter of 2026, prices for housing rose by 132.3%.
According to the State Statistics Service, housing prices rose by 12.8% in 2025 and by 12.7% in 2024.
As reported, an updated methodology for the state statistical survey “Changes in Housing Market Prices” has been in effect since the first quarter of 2026, which the State Statistics Service approved to comply with the requirements of European Commission (EU) Regulation 2025/1182 of June 17, 2025.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, housing prices in the European Union rose by 5.5% year-on-year, and by 5.1% in the eurozone. Compared to the third quarter of 2025, growth stood at 0.8% for the EU and 0.6% for the eurozone. Eurostat released the latest data on April 7.
Among EU countries, an annual price decline was recorded only in Finland, at 3.1%. The highest growth rates were seen in Hungary, where housing prices rose by 21.2%, Portugal, by 18.9%, and Croatia, by 16.1%. On a quarterly basis, prices rose the most in Slovenia (5.1%), Hungary (4.2%), and Portugal (4.0%), while declines were observed in France, Finland, and Estonia.
New statistics confirm that the European housing market remains in a phase of sustained price appreciation following the 2023 correction. According to Eurostat, after negative trends in the second and third quarters of 2023, price growth in the EU resumed and by 2025 had once again settled above the 5% mark on an annual basis.
A broader analysis of Eurostat’s housing data shows that this is not a short-term spike but part of a long-term trend. By the end of 2024, housing prices in the EU were 53% higher than in 2010, while rents rose by 25% over the same period, and inflation stood at 39%. Separately, in its statistical review for Q4 2025, Eurostat notes that from 2015 to the end of 2025, housing prices in the EU rose by 64.9%, while rental rates increased by 21.8%.
For the market, this means that real estate in the EU is appreciating faster than both consumer prices and rents, and the main pressure is now shifting to countries in Central and Southern Europe, where growth rates are significantly higher than the European average. Against this backdrop, investors and developers are likely to continue focusing on markets with double-digit price growth, primarily in Hungary, Portugal, and Croatia.
