Although the sharp rise in prices has mainly occurred in the last year and a half, the wave of people moving out started somewhat earlier.Continue reading
Housing prices in Hungary were 2.1 times higher than in 2015, the highest increase within the EU countries, according to data from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) and the EU’s statistical office (Eurostat).
According to the latest data from Eurostat, “for the last quarter of last year, house prices in Hungary rose at the fastest pace in the EU in the last seven years.”
In the last quarter of last year, the average price paid for housing in Hungary was 2.1 times higher than in 2015, while the Czech Republic was in second place with a 2.0 price increase, and Luxembourg came in third with 1.8 times the price paid for property for sale in comparison to 2015,” housing market site ingatlan.com‘s chief economic expert, László Balogh, explained.
According to the site’s data, the preliminary official price index for second-hand housing detected a 20% increase in the last quarter of 2021 at a national level, which is mainly due to an increased rise in the price of residential property in less expensive locations.
However, in the first quarter of 2022, there was less interest for homes for sale than two years ago, although the first quarter of 2020 was already hit by the coronavirus pandemic. This year’s data suggests that housing demand is being held back by rising mortgage rates.
According to the statement, the market is likely to split in two, with prices for new homes likely to rise faster than for second-hand homes, partly due to labor shortages and rising costs of building materials. The survey shows that the average price per square meter of new housing in the capital in the first days of April was around HUF 1.1 million (EUR 2,910), up by 21% from a year earlier.
For second-hand apartments in Budapest, the increase amounted to 17%, reaching HUF 873,000 (EUR 2,310). In cities outside of Budapest, the average price per square meter of new housing was HUF 736,000 (EUR 1,950), a 26% annual increase, while the average price of second-hand housing rose by 28% to HUF 522,000 (EUR 1,380).
featured image via Csaba Jászai/MTVA