What does owning a home cost per month? (2026)

The real monthly cost of a home is built from five parts: the loan interest, the loan repayment, the maintenance charge or the upkeep of the property, the property tax and insurance. The sum of these tells you whether you can afford the home. The debt-free price or the asking price does not tell you, because it includes neither the loan cost nor the running costs. Stress-test the interest at a stress rate of about 6%, so the number also withstands a rise in rates.

What makes up the monthly cost

The monthly cost is divided differently depending on whether you buy an apartment or a detached house. In an apartment the housing company handles the costs of the building, and you pay them through the charge. In a detached house you pay the same costs directly and yourself.

In an apartment the monthly cost is: loan interest + repayment + maintenance charge + a possible financing charge + home and water insurance. The maintenance charge and the financing charge together make up the total charge. The property tax is paid by the housing company, and it is already included in the maintenance charge. You do not pay it separately.

In a detached house the monthly cost is: loan interest + repayment + upkeep of the property (heating, water, electricity, waste, chimney sweeping) + property tax + home insurance. A house has no charge, but the upkeep and tax take its place, and depending on the condition of the house the cost can be larger than a charge.

Example: a 60-square-metre apartment

Take a 60-square-metre block-of-flats apartment with a debt-free price of 240,000 euros. Assume 25% own funds, a 180,000 euro loan, a 25-year loan term and a maintenance charge at the Statistics Finland block-of-flats average.

Item	Per month
Interest (stress rate ~6%, 180,000 e)	about 900 e
Repayment (25 years)	about 600 e
Maintenance charge (4.86 e/m2 x 60 m2)	about 292 e
Home insurance	about 20 e
Total	about 1,812 e/month

The numbers are indicative. The interest and repayment depend on the size and term of the loan, and the interest cost shrinks over the loan term. If the housing company has a pipe renovation or another large repair coming, a financing charge can be added on top, which can be hundreds of euros per month.

Why a stress rate, not the current rate

The interest cost is worth calculating at a stress rate of about 6%, even if your own rate is currently lower. The bank does the same when granting a loan. If you can afford the home only at a low rate, the finances are tight as soon as rates rise. The stress rate is a stress test that tells you whether the budget withstands a worse rate.

Property tax in a detached house

The owner of a detached house pays the property tax themselves, directly to the municipality, once a year. For a permanent home the property tax percentage in 2026 is between 0.41% and 1.00% of the taxable value, and the municipality decides the exact percentage in its own area.

Taxable value	Tax at 0.41%	Tax at 1.00%
120,000 e	about 492 e/year (41 e/month)	about 1,200 e/year (100 e/month)
200,000 e	about 820 e/year (68 e/month)	about 2,000 e/year (167 e/month)

The taxable value is usually clearly lower than the market value, so the practical tax often comes to a few tens of euros per month. Check your own municipality’s percentage, because the difference is more than double.

The energy certificate and the heating cost

The energy certificate classes a home’s energy efficiency between A and G. Class A consumes little, class G a lot. Especially in a detached house the class directly affects the heating cost, which is often the largest single item of upkeep. A house in a poor class can cost thousands of euros more per year in heating than an energy-efficient house of the same size. In an apartment the heating is usually included in the maintenance charge, so the effect of the class shows up in the size of the charge.

Compare the right number, not the asking price

The asking price of two homes can be the same, but the monthly cost different. A high maintenance charge, an upcoming pipe renovation or a poor energy class can make a cheaper-looking home more expensive to own. So always build the whole monthly cost before you decide whether you can afford the home. Ask the housing company for the manager’s certificate (isännöitsijäntodistus) and check the maintenance charge, any upcoming repairs and the share of the company loan. For a detached house, ask for last year’s heating, water and electricity costs and the property tax decision.

A good rule of thumb: work out the monthly cost in full for every home you are considering, and compare them against each other. Only then do you see which is genuinely the cheapest to own.

If you want the number ready-made, paste the listing into Heimer, and Heimer works out the whole monthly cost for you: the interest stress-tested, the charge, the tax and the upkeep in the same view.