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.

Government super weapon apparently missed its target

napi.hu 4 July 2018 – The end of the preferential 5 per cent VAT rate will put an abrupt end to the housing boom and result in a brutal price increase of newly-built apartments. The almost 25 per cent price hike will have a serious effect on instalments paid for new apartments, new construction projects and on new developments after 2020, said to portfolio.hu based on a radio interview with Mihály Varga finance minister.

Varga reminded that the term of the Preferential VAT Act runs between 2016 and 2019 and that the government decided to forego significant tax income to further its demographic goals. However, 10 per cent of new apartments are bought by foreigners in Budapest, which means the benefit is exploited by real estate investors which is not what the government was aiming to achieve.

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 […]