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Hungarians take out ever increasing loans
napi.hu, 1 October 2018 – Banks do not mess around when approving loan applications: clients are notified about the result within three weeks. Despite an ever growing demand there is no congestion in the approval procedure: banks pass their decisions within no more than 15 working days. The processing time of standard mortgage applications submitted to UniCredit Bank is 9 working days, while “client friendly residential loans” are processed within 7-8 days.
Processing is completed within five working days at K&H Bank, provided that a full set of documentation is available. According to CIB Bank processing times have become shorter since the introduction of “qualified client friendly residential loans”.
Almost all banks reported an increase of the volume of loans compared to the same period last year. In 2018 the average loan applied for by clients of UniCredit Bank exceeded HUF 13 million, which is an almost 20 per cent increase from last year. The average loan at K&H Bank is almost HUF 10 million, compared to HUF 9 million last year.
Only a few are granted social housing in Budapest
napi.hu, 29. September 2018 – According to data collected by an NGO only 5 per cent of all residential properties in Budapest are owned by one of the local governments or by the Metropolitan Local Government of Budapest. The national average is around 2 per cent while back in 1989, at the time of the change of the political system, 50 per cent of all apartments were owned by the municipalities. The percentage of residential apartments owned by the district local government is the highest in Districts 1, 8, 9, and 13. The largest number of apartments owned by the local government are in Districts 3, 8, 9, and 13.
There are at least 2500 vacant social housing apartments in Budapest. The majority have a bathroom and a lavatory, some have a bathroom only (without a lavatory), or neither a bathroom nor a lavatory, while some are termed as “emergency housing” suitable for temporary purposes only. According to the information supplied by the local governments at least 20 per cent of these apartments are in a habitable condition, i.e. there are at least 500 vacant social housing apartments.
Last year at least 346 apartments were sold by district local governments in Budapest and only as few as 31 were purchased or built. In contrast, at least 6700 families applied for social housing to one of the district local governments of the Hungarian capital.
The most popular apartment types in Hungary
napi.hu, 28. September 2018 – The residential property boom continues in Hungary. In the second half of the year demand was even higher than in the first, especially for apartments with their own boiler heating. On a year-on-year basis, demand for each apartment advertised grew by 12, 15 and 24 per cent in June, July and August, respectively, followed by a whopping 41 per cent increase in September. This spectacular figure can partly be explained by the fact that on account of expected tightening of credit terms on residential properties and of the potential increase of the preferential VAT on apartments after the end of 2019 many buyers are keen to fast-track their purchase.
As far as heating fuels are concerned, natural gas is the most popular. The popularity of apartments with their own boiler heating is above average: 32 per cent of potential buyers prefer this type of heating because it is generally believed to be the most economical. Gas-fuelled wall heaters are also popular because they form the most frequent type of heating in studio apartments. The high proportion of district heating is a direct consequence of the popularity of precast concrete high rise apartment blocks.