A mortgage gives you only two big levers: how much to put down up front and how many years to stretch the rest over. Both look like a matter of taste - in fact they are a matter of hundreds of thousands of hryvnias. Let's run the numbers on a 2 000 000 ₴ apartment at the average rate of 11.29 % - what new housing loans cost in August 2026, according to the NBU.
Lever one: the down payment
A bank will not finance the whole apartment - usually at least 20 % has to be your own money. But paying in more than the minimum works too: every hryvnia paid up front is a hryvnia that accrues no interest for ten years.
The same apartment, a 10-year annuity, different down payments:
| Down payment | Loan body | Monthly payment | Overpayment |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 % (400 000 ₴) | 1 600 000 ₴ | 22 303 ₴ | 1 076 416 ₴ |
| 30 % (600 000 ₴) | 1 400 000 ₴ | 19 515 ₴ | 941 864 ₴ |
| 40 % (800 000 ₴) | 1 200 000 ₴ | 16 727 ₴ | 807 312 ₴ |
The pattern is linear, so it is easy to keep in mind: on these terms every 100 000 ₴ of down payment takes 1 394 ₴ off the monthly payment and 67 276 ₴ off the overpayment. An extra 400 000 ₴ at the start comes back as 269 104 ₴ of interest saved.
The overpayment as a percentage does not depend on the down payment at all: over 10 years at 11.29 % you hand over 67.28 % on top of any loan body. The down payment changes the base those percentages apply to.
Lever two: the term
The term works the other way around: it splits the same debt into more payments, but every month the debt is alive, interest drips onto the balance. A 1 600 000 ₴ body, the same annuity:
| Term | Monthly payment | Overpayment | % of the body |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 years | 35 019 ₴ | 501 183 ₴ | 31.32 % |
| 7 years | 27 640 ₴ | 721 800 ₴ | 45.11 % |
| 10 years | 22 303 ₴ | 1 076 416 ₴ | 67.28 % |
Stretching the loan from 5 to 10 years means paying 12 716 ₴ less a month - and giving the bank 575 233 ₴ more. On the 15-20 year terms typical for mortgages the effect is sharper still: the overpayment grows faster than the term.
The right tactic starts from the payment: banks usually require it to stay within 40-50 % of your documented income, and you need headroom for utilities and repairs anyway. Pick the shortest term whose payment is comfortable - and if spare money shows up later, repay early (why that wins is covered in the early repayment article).
Don't forget the fees
The rate is not the whole price of a loan. Add a one-time 1 % issue fee and 0.05 % of the body a month for insurance to the example - and the true annual rate (APR) climbs from 11.89 % to 13.14 %, while the 10-year overpayment grows from 1 076 416 ₴ to 1 188 416 ₴. Compare bank offers by APR.
What about the state programme
The market rate is not the only option: under the state "yeOselia" programme a loan costs 7 % (3 % for certain categories). On the same 1 600 000 ₴ body over 10 years that is a 18 577 ₴ payment and a 629 283 ₴ overpayment at 7 % - against 1 076 416 ₴ on market terms. If you qualify, run the programme's numbers first.
Key takeaways
- On these terms, every 100 000 ₴ of down payment is 1 394 ₴ off the payment and 67 276 ₴ off the overpayment
- A 10-year term instead of 5 cuts the payment by a third but more than doubles the overpayment
- Pick the shortest comfortable term and top up with early repayments
- Compare banks by APR with all the fees, not by the advertised rate
Put your own apartment, down payment and term into the loan calculator - it shows the payment, the overpayment and the full schedule down to the last month.