Home prices in Hungary rose 23.5% year-on-year in 2025, climbing at the fastest pace in the past 25 years, the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) highlighted in a report published on Wednesday.
In real terms, home prices increased 19.0% last year. In the fourth quarter of 2025, home prices were 22.5% higher than the level justified by fundamentals, the central bank said.
In 2025, just 12,000 new homes were completed in Hungary, but the 37% increase in the number of building permits issued could result in a significant increase in supply in the coming years, mainly in the capital and other major cities, the report said.
Looking ahead, 15,700 new homes could be completed in Budapest this year, a 30% increase from a year earlier.
Presenting the report on the home market, Sándor Winkler, who heads the central bank's real estate market analysts, said the Home Start subsidized credit scheme for first-time home buyers rearranged the housing market. With the launch of the scheme, the ratio of first-time home buyers in the capital jumped to 40% from 25% in one year, while the presence of investors on the domestic home market declined.
Around one-fifth of housing loans is now market-based, while the majority is subsidized loans, with Home Start loans accounting for 70% of those. Within the Home Start program, the ratio of loans spent on the purchase of used homes is 90%, while for market-based loans it is 74%, he added.
He also noted that the ratio of home purchases on credit, after averaging 35% in H1 2025, had reached 64% by March due to the impact of the scheme.
Sándor Winkler said home transaction numbers rose 3% last year to 152,000, boosted by the Home Start scheme in the autumn, but in Q1 2026 they were down by 18% nationally and were 29% lower in Budapest compared to the same period a year earlier.
Home prices are estimated to have risen by 18% around the country in Q1 and were up 16.5% in Budapest. The pace of price increases is decelerating, and could be down at an 11% increase in the capital in Q2, he noted.
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