New home building expands in Hungary

Home building seems to start taking off in Hungary, at least this is what the latest statistical release of the Central Statistical Office (KSH) suggests. The trend which started in early 2014 continued and in the first nine months of the year 27% more new homes were built than in the same period of 2013. It is also a promising sign that the number of building permits issued jumped by 30% yr/yr.

In the first nine months of 2014, 5,168 new homes were built, 27% more than the year earlier. Despite the continuous growth since the beginning of the year, the number of homes built is still low at 25% of the respective figure of the first three quarters of 2008 prior to the crisis.

The number of new homes shows significant regional differences. Compared to the first nine months of 2013, 9% fewer homes were built in towns with county rights and 44 and 56% more respectively in smaller towns and villages so far this year. At the same time, there was a 31% increase in the number of homes receiving occupancy permits in Budapest.

In the first three quarters of 2014, the composition of the group of builders has slightly changed compared to the year before: the proportion of homes built by natural persons grew from 57 to 61% and the proportion of homes built by businesses decreased from 40 to 38%. At the same time, in Budapest, 67% of all homes were built by entrepreneurs.

(source: portfolio.hu)