Property Purchases for Investment Increase in Hungary

Property purchases for investment purposes increased both in the Hungarian capital and in rural areas last December, according to Duna House's own data.

In Budapest, investor motivation generated 53% of transactions in December 2022, and 33% in the countryside, an increase of 7 and 4%age points, respectively, compared to the same period in 2021. Investors in the capital signed for an average of 88 square meters, while those in the countryside signed for 58 square meters. On average, residents of the capital spent HUF 58 million on their investment purchases, while rural residents spent HUF 27.35 million on average.

According to Duna House's own estimates, there were 6,474 property sales in December 2022, a decrease of 19% compared to November and 43% compared to December 2021. This means that the real estate network estimates that the residential property market closed in 2022 with 125,171 sales, a 22% year-on-year decrease in volume. According to Duna House, the market is not expected to pick up in 2023, with 90-110,000 homes expected to be sold.

The statement also informs that in the last quarter, the average price per square meter of panel houses in both the east and west of the country increased year-on-year, with unit prices rising from HUF 361,000 to HUF 456,000 in the east and from HUF 360,000 to HUF 494,000 in the west. On the other hand, the average price per square meter of second-hand brick-built properties decreased to HUF 308,000 in the East and HUF 355,000 in the West, from HUF 415,000 and HUF 423,000, respectively, in December 2021.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, the average price per square meter of flats in pre-fabricated buildings on the Buda side of the capital increased by 39% to HUF 863,000 and HUF 728,000, respectively, while on the Pest side by 34% compared to the previous year. The unit price of brick-built apartments also increased year-on-year in the October-December period, bringing average prices per square meter to over HUF 1 million in Buda and HUF 930,000 in Pest.

Last year, the last quarter saw an increase in the proportion of borrowers taking advantage of the subsidies, presumably due to the uncertainty surrounding the subsidies for families to create a home. In rural property purchases, the share of claims for the family home creation allowance submitted alongside loan transactions rose compared to the previous quarter. In Eastern and Western Hungary, 32.4-32.9% of loan transactions were accompanied by a claim for a voucher, while in Budapest the share decreased from 18.9 to 18.8%. However, the national breakdown increased from 23.1% in the third quarter to 24.7% between October and December last year.

It was also pointed out that in the fourth quarter of 2022, the price per square meter of newly built properties in all but four districts (XVII, XVIII, XXI, XXIII) of the capital was above HUF 1 million. The most expensive district was Buda's 2nd district, where the price per square meter of newly-built properties sold exceeded HUF 2.7 million.