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Due to the unfavorable economic situation and extremely high loan interests, people are playing the waiting game and looking for homes for rent rather than for sale. Meanwhile, euro-based renting is on the rise in the Hungarian rental market.
The Hungarian market has accepted fee increases due to inflation, while energy-efficient small apartments can be rented out in hours, Zsuzsanna Kétszery, head of property management at Duna House Home management, said on a podcast of Világgazdaság. She added that tenants are bidding against each other for such apartments, which are in short supply.
From the beginning of this year until July, rental prices on the market continued to rise, but after the abolition of the utility cost reduction, renters realized that rising inflation was eating into the share of tenants’ income that could be spent on housing. Demand has fallen as expected, but the average rent in Budapest is still currently HUF 200,000 (EUR 500) a month.
In addition, as apartments with central heating were exempt from the change in the utility rules, they immediately were more appreciated in the rental market.
Central heating and small floor space are proving to be a winning combination in the current situation.
Meanwhile, a new phenomenon has emerged in the Hungarian rental market: the euro-denominated rents. While this was already popular in the short-term rental market and in neighborhoods favored by foreigners, more people are now amending their contracts, and open-ended contracts are becoming more popular. The main reasons for fixing rents in euro are the weakening of the forint and inflation.
According to experts, at least one in ten people currently live in rented apartments in Hungary and this number is expected to rise. An increasing number of young people can imagine living in rented accommodation in the long term or even for ever. Although they consider property a good investment, they do not necessarily want to live in their own home.
Featured photo via Pixabay
