House renting prices are one of the main indexes of investment yield in real estate. Experts said the costs of buying and renting two- and three-room apartments were similar to those of apartments as big as 70 square meters in the biggest European cities.
The survey took into account average rent prices and the cost of a square meter during the last 12 months, but ignored utility payments and other obligatory fees for homeowners.
Homebuyers in Monaco face the longest wait because it would take 92 years to return money invested into buying an apartment, the survey said. France ranked the next from the bottom with a 34-year wait, followed by Sweden and Andorra (both 32 years) and then Croatia and Italy (30 years).
Russia ranked ninth, along with Denmark, Latvia, Luxembourg, Poland and Spain. A home buyer in any of these countries will have to rent out an apartment for 19 years to recoup his investment. Turkey came out as the record holder on return on investment speed: An apartment only needs to be rented out for 13 years to pay off there.
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