Apartment prices soar in Budapest

In 2016, the price of apartments for sale increased by 13% year on year, and the rise in new home prices also exceeded 10% in Hungary. During the first quarter of 2017, the price increase continued in the real estate market.

The price of second-hand homes was 4.8% above the previous quarter's level and this figure for new homes was 1.7%. Last year, 146 thousand homes were sold, 9% more than in 2015. Despite the increase in sales, however, in smaller settlements the rise in prices was lagging behind those in the big cities. 5% of the sales is linked to foreign citizens. That is according to figures from the Central Statistical Office quoted by the financial website portfolio.hu.

Most foreign buyers are German, Romanian, Chinese and Slovak citizens, they bought half of all foreign-owned apartments. Chinese, Israeli and Vietnamese customers are most interested in Budapest, 85-90% of their home purchases are realized here. In contrast, over 80% of German, Austrian, Dutch, Belgian, Swiss, Romanian and Slovak nationals favor rural dwellings. Accordingly, expenditures from people from different countries move on a wide scale. A buyer from Romania bought for an average of HUF 10 million (EUR 32,500), with the Dutch spending an average of HUF 12 million (EUR 39,000) and the Germans 17 million (EUR 55,400). On the other hand, Chinese buyers with investment intent were looking for high-value real estate, and their average purchase value reached HUF 39 million (EUR 127,000). The average value of purchases by both Russian and American citizens exceeded HUF 30 million (EUR 97,700).