At a time when apartment prices are rising more and more and so are the incomes needed for a decent lifestyle, many are thinking about what it takes to manage to have an apartment and a car in Romania in 2026. A Reddit user asks directly, in a post that has garnered dozens of reactions: “What is the world doing?”.
A dilemma that grinds many
“What is the world doing? Seriously now, I look around and feel like I’m behind. I wonder what people do who can afford to buy a two-room apartment in the wonderful capital for about 130,000 euros, plus car and “everything”.
I have a university degree, a master’s degree, I earn quite well, but I still have the feeling that it is not enough to afford an apartment, a parking space, furnishing and all the expenses that come with it. And this in the conditions in which I am not a spendthrift person”.
This is the full Reddit post. In what the user writes, there are many Romanians, for whom a house and a car are becoming an increasingly difficult goal. “Where do they go wrong and what do those who succeed do differently?” are other questions that cross the minds of many.
Rates, the main answer
From the answers received, installments are the main way you can succeed in buying a home in Romania. Although you become an owner, such obligations also come with disadvantages. So another debate was born: is credit a trap or a tool?
“I have a 30-year installment on a house of 100,000 euros. I’m not rich, I’m just slightly better off than average. I’m constantly trying to improve my life, but it’s hard”someone wrote.
“Lifetime installments”chimes another comment. Contradicted by another platform user:
“When I hear you like that… Be, brother, you tenants and put the money in someone else’s pocket. It’s 30-year installments, but if you’re a bit crazy and financially disciplined, you’ll pay it off in 5-7 years. And 5-7 years go by before you even realize it. Stop being so dramatic. Mortgages, credit cards, they can all help you if you know how to use them.”
To this counter-argument, someone else replied:
,,Please also explain to me how I use mortgages, credit cards to my advantage if I lose my job, for example, and it takes me 6+ months to get a job. I’m dying of curiosity, I’ll go and make a credit to give you a prize.”
Many “seem” rich, few actually are
Others speak of another situation, where appearances and reality are not the same thing:
“To better understand the situation of those who can afford a lot, in 2008 it was full of ads with Range Rovers for sale :))) Wait a little longer, maybe it will happen again”.
“Stay calm. Many have installments for 30 years and end up eating into debt (borrowing money from friends) to have all those things. Just because they have them, doesn’t mean they can afford them. I know enough cases with decent salaries, bought new car and new apartment 2–3 years ago; currently borrowing money for food after paying off all the credit card charges, car and house payments and the exorbitant new iPhone subscription.”
A young man even gives his own example:
“Banker, sales for legal entities, at one of the top 5 banks in the country, 28 years old, installment on the apartment for another 26 years, car leasing on a mini SUV, eat poached eggs and pasta 5 times a week”.
Fearing that he might end up in debt, another tells how he saves to the extreme:
“Most of them are in debt up to their heads (so no, they can’t afford it, they just managed to get that something in installments, it’s a big difference), which limits them a lot. They can’t afford to do anything else, earn less or go without income, because the rates are coming. I for one have a standard of living well below the income, which allows me that even a minimum on the economy does not affect my standard of living. I’m personally anti-rates (and I find the phone subscription terrible), but that’s just a “flaw” of mine. I prefer to take everything in cash, so I don’t have to worry about it. At least this philosophy of life was an incredible help to me”.
The jobs and incomes that allow you to live on the big foot
Among those who answered, there are also people who say that the income they get allows them to have a house and a car and lead a good life.
“Honest money is made in IT, law, medicine, entrepreneurship. The problem is that everyone who asks these questions wants this money in 25-30 years. Entrepreneurship is not for everyone, it involves some risk, luck and maybe some starting money. Some good friends of mine are now millionaires in euros because they started in the 2000s with a thermal insulation company”.
“I work in aviation. Currently 20,000 lei per month”
Others say they can’t afford to buy with the money down, even though they have high salaries:
,,M, 41 years old, engineer. I earn between 12,000 and 20,000 lei net, meal vouchers of 1,000, car at the discretion of the company, through the lens of the job, so I also use it in personal interest, within the limit of 230 liters of gasoline/month. The wife, account manager, earns 8,500 net + 1,000 vouchers, plus other small semi-annual bonuses. We have two 5-year-old twin girls. We don’t drink alcohol or smoke, although I don’t know how relevant that would be. Of course, salaries were much lower over time, but we gradually increased, and so did they. At the moment we have no loans, we live in a 3-room apartment from ’86, in the Titan district, sector 3. As an idea, in the last three we managed to save almost 100,000 euros, trying to buy another apartment, but the prices have increased terribly”.
Answers that can reassure
There are also answers by which people tried to convince the young man that he is not actually doing anything wrong and should consider several aspects:
“How you relate, the question is not who works, but since when they work, how much external help they have, etc. You can’t leave school (faculty/master’s) and, after working for a few years, even if you live on air and save all your salary, end up paying that amount in full.”
“The answer is painfully simple: salaries have not increased in proportion to the price of goods (apartments, cars, etc.), the price of the latter going on a galloping, unjustified growth trend, maintained by the ability of some to pay, in cash, without negotiation, whatever amount is asked of them. As long as we as a society allow wealth disparities such that 10-15% of the population have more money than the remaining 90-85%, things will only get worse. What you notice as very expensive has nothing to do with your skills.”
“I work in the credit area and I am passionate about financial education. From what I’ve observed, money always seems small if you compare yourself to others. It is much healthier to compare yourself with yourself from the past – 1, 3 or 5 years ago – and see if you have progressed. From there you draw your own conclusions.”
How many owners are there in Romania?
According to Eurostat data from 2023, in Romania, 94.8% of the population lives in privately owned homes. We are in first place in Europe, followed by Slovakia (with 93%) and Croatia (with 91%). And Hungary reaches the 90% mark.
Paradoxically, most renters are in well-developed countries, such as Germany (53% of residents rent), Austria (49%) and Denmark (40%). In Romania, according to the report, the percentage of renters was 5.2%.
Romanians borrow to become owners
However, the real estate market in Romania is dependent on mortgage loans. In 2024 alone, 86,600 mortgages were granted, and in the first quarter of 2025 their number exceeded 50,000.
In total, there are over 500,000 single debtors in Romania.
How much house prices have increased compared to rents
Owning a home is getting more expensive across Europe. Rents, on the other hand, have not fluctuated much over the years. Another Eurostat analysis shows that between 2010 and the fourth quarter of 2024, house prices in the European Union increased by 55.4% and rents by 26.7%
