Lawyer's addressLövőház utca 20/A.
1024 Budapest Hungary
Attorney's phone number Tel.: +36 1 316 9233
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Attorney's office e-mail info@drlittner.hu

Property prices to decrease in 2021

Napi.hu, 04.12. – For the next twelve months experts expect to see a residential property price decrease of 3-4% on average in Budapest. With the exception of the green belt of Buda and of detached houses market expectations have changed for the worse, i.e. market players expect that oversupply will increase in the future. In the country, however, the outlook has improved a little. In the Eastern part of the country two of three experts queried expect to see stagnation; the overall forecast promises a 3% price decrease. In the Western part of the country, on the other hand, 72% and 22% of property experts expect stagnating and decreasing prices, respectively. According to the overall prognosis the price decrease will be a mere 2%. As far as property rental fees are concerned 57% of experts say there will be a decrease, 36% expect stagnation and a mere 7% believes rental fees will increase in 2021. The expected decrease (5%) is smaller than  before.

Real estate market recovered

napi.hu, 06.10 – According to Q3 2020 data the real estate turnover in the Hungarian market has already recovered. Judged by the analysis of a major real estate agency the number of sales in these three months was the same, about 38 thousand, as in July-September last year. The company expects a balanced market in the last quarter of the year and the same activity as last year, which could mean 34-35 thousand sales.

According to data published by the company, 2,708 properties changed hands in September nationwide, and buyers took out residential mortgages worth HUF 75 billion. Although real estate sales fell short of September by about 5 percent year-on-year, the entire quarter saw no sign of the previous decline, and the market now shows the intensity of a year ago.

According to the company, the mortgage loan market is also showing signs of recovery, as the estimated volume of HUF 75 billion is the same as last year’s central bank data, and the market performed well on a quarterly basis, too. In the third quarter of this year, people spent a total of nearly HUF 225 billion on housing loans for residential purposes, based on estimates and central bank data.

Skyrocketing apartment prices

napi.hu, 29 January 2019 – As a result of last years’ price increases we need to work years more for an apartment, assuming we save up our entire salary. According to the calculations of a large real estate agency the price of an average apartment in a high-rise concrete block equals 8.5 years’ salary, while an apartment in a brick and mortar building costs the equivalent of 14 years’ salary. The exact figures depend on the job of the buyer, but an average concrete and a brick and mortar apartment cost 103 and 169 months’ average salary, respectively – assuming the buyer is not taking out a loan to finance the purchase.

Employees of the financial sector are in the best position here: their high average salaries enable them to acquire an apartment for 4.5 and 7.5 years’ entire wages, respectively. Naturally, their situation has also deteriorated compared to 2014. Employees in the catering industry are facing the biggest difficulties, but those in health care don’t have it easy either. They need to work 13 years for an apartment in a high-rise and 21-22 years in a traditional building. For catering and health care employees the same figures in 2014 were 8 and 14 years, respectively.

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.

Budapest residential property market may slow down

Napi.hu, 30 July 2018 – In the first half of 2018 there were 6517 apartments built in Hungary, 30 per cent more than in the same period of the previous year. The number of residential units under planning was 18,066, 8.9 per cent less than in the first half of 2017. The number of planning approvals issued in Budapest decreased by 27 per cent. 50-50 per cent of residential properties are still built by private persons and companies, respectively.

54 per cent of apartments created in a new building are located in houses, 36 per cent in condominiums and 6.2 per cent in gated residential communities.

The average floor space of apartments is 101 square metres, an increase of 5 square metres from the previous year. The number of apartments planned reduced by 27 and 3.5 per cent in Budapest and in county centres, respectively, and increased (by 17 per cent) in other towns and cities only.