How much does a home cost in Europe? A lower price does not always mean a more affordable apartment

SVET ZA 5 MINÚT · 10 October 2026 · approximately 7–8 minutes to read

An apartment costing more than a million euros in Switzerland, versus around €91,000 in Turkey. That is the range in our indicative calculation for a 90 m² apartment outside a city centre. But the price tag tells only half the story. The other half is the income of the person who wants to buy it.

The most revealing contrast may be much closer to home. In our data, the model apartment costs around 6% more in Germany than in Czechia, while the net salary is approximately 87% higher. Divide the price by earnings, and the comparison changes dramatically.

We have expanded the reel to cover 25 selected countries. Here is what their prices and incomes reveal, how to interpret the results, and what a simple table cannot tell us about the realities of buying a home.

What are we comparing?

We use two Numbeo data items: the price per square metre of an apartment outside the city centre, and the average monthly salary after tax. Both were retrieved on 10 October 2026, using values displayed in euros. [1][2]

The calculation is straightforward:

Model apartment price = price per m² × 90.

Price-to-income multiple = model price ÷ (monthly net salary × 12).

This means one average net income, rather than the combined earnings of a household. The result is not a property listing or a guaranteed price in every city. Equal floor space does not ensure equal building condition, transport connections or neighbourhood quality.

Numbeo combines user contributions with its own data collection and applies filters. Country aggregates reflect contributor numbers across cities. It is useful for indicative comparisons, but it is not a representative register of completed property sales. [3] The retrieval date also does not mean that every underlying observation was collected that day.

From €91,000 to more than €1 million

The table is sorted by model price, from highest to lowest. It covers selected European markets, including transcontinental Turkey, rather than every country in Europe.

Prices and average net salaries: Numbeo, retrieved 10 October 2026. Our calculation assumes 90 m² outside the city centre. Prices are rounded to the nearest €1,000, salaries to whole euros and multiples to one decimal place. Calculations use unrounded inputs. Small differences in ranking should not be overinterpreted.

Czechia, Slovakia and Germany: the price tag is not enough

The model apartment costs approximately €303,000 in Czechia and €321,000 in Germany: a difference of around €18,000. Yet monthly net salaries in the dataset are approximately €1,569 and €2,940 respectively.

Those relatively similar prices therefore become 16.1 annual net salaries in Czechia and 9.1 in Germany. This does not mean every German buyer can comfortably afford a home. It means Germany has a more favourable result under this particular measure.

Slovakia's model price is approximately €212,000, substantially below both neighbours. With a monthly net salary of around €1,175, however, it represents 15 annual incomes. A lower asking amount, on its own, does not guarantee an easier route into ownership.

Austria adds another useful comparison. Its model price is approximately €384,000, with a multiple of 11.7. It is more expensive than Slovakia in euros, but less expensive relative to the income used here. These are still indicative national figures: matching a particular job with a particular apartment in Vienna or Bratislava could produce a different result.

Where the ranking becomes surprising

Switzerland has by far the highest price, yet its multiple of roughly 14 is below Czechia's 16.1. Even an exceptionally high salary, however, can face an exceptionally expensive property. A million-euro apartment does not become cheap simply because it is in a wealthy country.

Finland, Belgium and Sweden sit at the more favourable end of our selection, with multiples of 7.3, 7.9 and 8.1. Their euro prices may not look especially low, but their relationship to the incomes in this dataset is more favourable. Denmark and Ireland both come to around 8.5.

Portugal demonstrates the reverse effect. A price of approximately €225,000 may look modest against some western European markets, yet the local income produces a multiple of 16.1. Hungary is similarly high at 16.0, Croatia reaches 16.2, and Slovenia is around 15.0.

Italy at 9.0 and Spain at 9.9 show why “southern Europe” is not a single housing market. Romania has a relatively low price but a multiple of around 14. Turkey is the cheapest country in this selection; its multiple of 7.8 should also be read with awareness that exchange rates can affect prices expressed in euros. None of these results automatically tells someone where to move.

Fifteen annual salaries does not mean fifteen years of saving

This is the most important distinction in the entire comparison. The indicator divides the price by all net earnings in a year. Real people still have to pay for rent, food, transport and everything else.

Imagine a €180,000 apartment and an annual net income of €18,000. The multiple is 10. Someone saving a fifth of that income would put aside €3,600 a year. With unchanged prices and earnings, accumulating the full purchase price would take 50 years. This is illustrative arithmetic, excluding investment returns and mortgages, rather than a forecast of anyone's future.

A household with two identical incomes has half the multiple of a single earner buying the same property. That still does not guarantee half the saving time. Household spending, children, parental leave and job stability can all change the calculation.

Our measure is also different from Numbeo's published “Price to Income Ratio”, which uses different assumptions. Ours is an explicitly defined calculation based on 90 m² outside the centre and one annual net salary. [4] Nor is it a comprehensive purchasing-power index covering the rest of a household's spending.

A mortgage can change affordability without changing the price

Buying involves at least two hurdles: building up a deposit and managing the monthly repayments. For a hypothetical €250,000 property financed with an 80% mortgage, the buyer needs €50,000 of their own money. Fees, furnishings or renovation may add to that. This is an example, not a universal lending rule.

For a €200,000 repayment mortgage over 30 years, the standard monthly payment would be approximately:

• €843 at an annual interest rate of 3%;
• €1,074 at an annual interest rate of 5%.

That is roughly €230 more every month, even though the property costs exactly the same. The calculation assumes a constant rate and monthly repayments, excluding insurance and fees. These are hypothetical rates, not current mortgage offers.

A price-to-salary multiple therefore cannot be the whole affordability story. Two buyers earning the same amount may face very different options because of their deposits, interest rates, loan terms and existing debts. A rate reset can also alter the monthly burden on a home that has already been purchased.

A national average is not your neighbourhood or your pay packet

Country figures combine places with different job opportunities, services and property markets. An apartment outside the centre of a capital city is not equivalent to one outside the centre of a smaller regional town. Building condition, energy performance, floor level, parking and repair needs also affect what a buyer receives for the money.

We are using a mean income, not a median. High earners can pull the average above the pay received by many workers. A lower-income household would need a larger multiple of its actual earnings than the table suggests.

The purchase price is not the complete housing budget either. Owners pay running costs, maintenance and potentially major repairs. A cheaper apartment with expensive heating and an urgent renovation bill may put more pressure on a household than a slightly dearer, more efficient property.

For a personal comparison, the relevant pairing is a real home and the income someone could realistically earn in that location. Applying a Czech salary to a foreign property price, or a foreign salary to a Czech property, answers a different question. It can be useful for a cross-border worker or remote employee, but it should not be confused with affordability for a typical local buyer.

What other sources add

Eurostat also measures the burden of housing costs on household budgets. Its Housing in Europe 2025 publication reports that housing absorbed an average 19% of EU households' disposable income in 2024. Its overburden measure uses costs above 40% of disposable income. [5] This differs from comparing purchase prices with salaries.

Deloitte's Property Index 2025 also examines new 70 m² homes against gross incomes. Among the cities studied, it reports multiples of 15.0 for Prague and 14.2 for Košice. [6] These results cannot be substituted directly for our 90 m² model based on net income.

Such sources provide additional context; they do not independently verify every price in our table. When checking a market, readers need to compare the reference period, location, price definition and whether the figures describe advertised properties or completed transactions. Two valid figures can appear contradictory simply because they measure different things.

The highest price does not always mean the hardest route to ownership

The purpose of this comparison is not to crown one country the winner. It shows why “How much does an apartment cost?” needs follow-up questions: What income would pay for it? How much has the buyer saved? What would remain after repayments and other expenses?

Czechia and Slovakia come out less favourably in our model than several countries with higher euro prices. That is a meaningful observation, rather than proof of their exact position in a definitive European ranking. The price tag tells us what a home costs. Income, savings and financing tell us how close we can get to buying it.

Sources and methodology

1. Numbeo — apartment price per m² outside the city centre, EUR. Price inputs, retrieved 10 October 2026.
2. Numbeo — average monthly net salary, EUR. Income inputs, retrieved on the same date.
3. Numbeo — data collection and aggregation methodology.
4. Numbeo — property indicator definitions. Our calculation differs from its published index.
5. Eurostat — Housing in Europe, 2025 edition. The household-budget figures cited refer to 2024.
6. Deloitte — Property Index 2025. Additional context using a different methodology.

This selection of 25 countries is not a complete European ranking. Live Numbeo pages change over time; the article and reel use the same retrieval. Mortgage examples are our own illustrative calculations, not financing offers. Author: SVET ZA 5 MINÚT.