New apartments may flood the market

napi.hu, 04.11.2017 – A leading real estate expert said as a result of the 5 per cent preferential VAT rate that is expected to expire in 2019 the number of newly built apartments will become available on the market in the next couple of years will exceed even today’s figures.

There is an apartment construction boom in Hungary which, apart from the reduced VAT rate, is also due to CSOK, the Family Home Allowance. On a year-on-year basis the number of new apartments completed grew by 50 per cent in the first three quarters of 2017. The average price per square metre in Budapest, the Western and Eastern regions of Hungary is approximately 650-700k HUF, 360-400k HUF and 350-380k HUF, respectively. The differences are even greater for pre-owned apartments: these properties are three times more expensive in Budapest than in other parts of the country.

CSOK has still not taken grip

napi.hu, 27.09.2016. – The initial enthusiasm has ebbed and now CSOK (Family Home Allowance) does not seem to be such a success story after all. Real estate agents say the most serious problem is the sluggishness of the approval and disbursement procedure, which in turn causes extreme difficulties to construction contractors. CSOK is unlike a bank loan that you can apply for during the construction phase. The future allowance must be pre-financed either by the buyer or the developer. Most applicants are still waiting for their money even though they signed their contracts months ago. Banks regularly reject the documents, requesting new or additional information or amendments. On account of the poor experience of the past months developers and construction contractors are not happy to deal with CSOK clients and ask their real agents not to engage buyers who want to finance their purchase of a new apartment from CSOK.

Surprising news re: Family Home Allowance (CSOK)

napi.hu, 29.08.2016 – Hardly anyone has bought a new home using the Family Home Allowance (CSOK) yet, despite the fact that more than ten thousand applications have been registered so far. At the same time, the price of new homes has increased way beyond expected and reasonable levels since the new scheme was announced. Estate agents say they have “not seen a living soul who had actually bought a new home using an approved CSOK application”. Home prices surged since the introduction of CSOK, but a larger number of new houses and apartments at CSOK-conform prices and floor spaces will be completed next year only. Another handicap of CSOK applicants is that cash buyers are quicker to pay and snap up the best deals.

Demand for housing was weak for most of 2023, but by the end of the year interest had increased, and from the beginning of 2024 the Csok Plus programme boosted the market

hvg.hu 16.04 In the first quarter of this year, home buyers took advantage of the new subsidy option in almost exactly one sixth of the loans, 16.7 percent. Of course, it was not only the Csok Plus programme that helped, but also the fact that interest rates have started to fall and inflation has also […]

Second highest house price increase in the EU since 2010 in Hungary

hvg.hu, 04 04 – In the last quarter of 2023, the average price of housing in the EU was 48 percent more expensive than in 2010 – Eurostat said. House prices in Hungary rose by 185 percent between 2010 and 2023. This is the second highest increase in the EU, with only Estonia 217 percent […]

Heirs left in the lurch at the probate hearing

napi.hu, 20.01 – Cryptocurrencies, social media profiles or documents stored in the cloud are increasingly common in probate proceedings. However, few people know that in lack of proper regulation and provisions, access to crypto currencies can be questionable for heirs, or that tech giants only allow access to deceased people’s data to those entitled to […]

Property and mortgage market data

napi.hu, 18.01 – More than a third of Budapest clients signed contracts for over HUF 20 million last year. Between September and December, for example, their share was 42%, which reflects an increase of 10 percentage points in 2021. The number of applications in this value range has increased steadily from quarter to quarter, to […]

Real estate prices have increased on the back of CSOK

napi.hu, 5 October – A study shows that the family home allowance (CSOK) has not improved the birth rate, but its amount has been incorporated into the price of homes. Three quarters of the subsidy was bunt up by the price rise, and the number of people having three children has not increased even in […]