Buying a flat in Budapest for less than HUF 50 million has become almost impossible, according to the latest analysis sent to MTI by Hungarian property portal Ingatlan.com. The study highlights how dramatically housing prices have risen across Hungary over the past five years, particularly in the capital and larger regional cities.
Entry-level homes now start at around HUF 50 million in the capital
Data based on more than 95,000 second-hand flats currently on the property market show that even the cheapest homes in Budapest have seen extraordinary price inflation since 2021. Back then, buyers could still enter the housing market with around HUF 25 million (around EUR 70,300), but today properties below HUF 50 million (EUR 140,600) are extremely rare.
The increase has been especially striking in several districts of Budapest. In the city’s 4th district, the price of the cheapest flats climbed from HUF 20 million (EUR 56,250) to HUF 47 million (EUR 132,200) over the past five years. In the 9th district, the entry price rose from HUF 28 million (EUR 78,800) to nearly HUF 57 million (EUR 160,350).
According to Ingatlan.com’s leading economic analyst, László Balogh, the psychological threshold for “cheap” flats in Budapest now stands at around HUF 54 million (EUR 151,900). Roughly 90% of flats currently listed in the capital cost more than this amount, writes 444.
First-time buyers under growing pressure
The rapid rise in prices has created serious difficulties for first-time buyers, who now require significantly larger deposits and mortgages to purchase homes of a similar size or location compared with just a few years ago.
Median property prices have also surged. In 2021, the median asking price for flats in Budapest stood at HUF 46.5 million (EUR 130,800). Today, that figure has reached HUF 89.9 million (EUR 252,900), meaning an average flat purchase in the Hungarian capital is now approaching the HUF 100 million (EUR 281,300) mark — a price category once considered luxury real estate a decade ago.
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You can’t escape to the countryside either
Outside Budapest, the situation is similar in major cities such as Debrecen, where flats under HUF 50 million have also practically disappeared. Five years ago, buyers could still find homes there for around HUF 21 million (EUR 59,100). At the opposite end of the market, Salgótarján remains Hungary’s cheapest county seat, with entry-level property available from around HUF 11 million (EUR 30,950).
Balogh noted that the rapid period of price growth appears to be slowing after 2025, partly because many buyers have reached the limits of their financial capacity. As a result, experts do not expect another dramatic jump even in the prices of the cheapest homes.
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YEP, as agents we see this every day. Most transactions now require support from parents and grandparents and this does happen to an increasing extent in Budapest.
Prices all come back to how much it takes to construct a new property and this has gone through the roof in the last years. when a new property, even a small apartment has prices of at least HUF 1.5 Million per sq meter then this drives the market. 10 years ago this was HUF 400k per square meter.
Budapest simply isn’t worth the price anymore. When it comes to buying a house or flat, what isn’t mentioned in these numbers are the tens of thousands of euros more one will likely pay to do any work (and redo the work), and fix existing problems with cheap builds – one has to be lucky to get a fully functioning, reliable apartment. The problem is deeper than housing costs. It’s lack of decent, reliable labor and legitimate contracting work. The amount of people I know stuck in a hell of endless renovation is enormous.
Budapest is a lovely city, but, these prices are now high by international standards and positively absurd compared to local incomes. It’s a mystery to me how anyone can afford to buy a property there, other than a handful of foreign investors.
Surely the market is now ripe for a correction, aka prices start to fall?