Active Demand in Budapest Agglomeration Real Estate

The real estate market in the Budapest metropolitan area started the year with increasing transaction numbers, persistently strong demand and further price increases, according to data from real estate brokerage group Duna House.

In a statement on Tuesday, the group said that the number of transactions in January and February this year had already exceeded the number of contracts concluded in the same period last year by 36% in the settlements around Budapest.

According to Duna House data, 85% of buyers in the conurbation's real estate market signed contracts for home purchases and 15% for investment purposes. The price increase is higher than in the capital city compared to 2024, but the average price per square meter is still more favorable in comparison. On average, buyers in the settlements in question spend HUF 70 million on property purchases.

Ferenc Máté, Deputy CEO of Duna House, said in the statement: the metropolitan agglomeration is popular among property buyers, but the level of buyer interest is much lower than the high level of out-migration experienced during the epidemic years.

Compared to the number of sales in the agglomeration in 2020-2021, the number of property sales in the Budapest catchment area in 2023-2024 is 20% behind. The average price per square meter this year is close to double the price level in 2020, and now averages around HUF 720,000 in the agglomeration.

Compared to last year's price level, the price increase in the agglomeration averaged 10% in the first two months of this year, but even so, the price per square meter is still 28% lower than in the capital.

However, despite the favorable prices per square meter, there is no investor rush. Movers to larger properties account for a third of transactions, and a fifth of those signing a contract in the conurbation this year bought their first home.