Lower new-build property prices in Bucharest and Poland’s major cities may catch the attention of Hungarian buyers, but the success of a property investment abroad is determined by much more than the purchase price and achievable rental income. An analysis by Cordia comparing the Hungarian, Polish and Romanian markets, while also looking at Spain, examines the differences, costs and yields investors should consider when thinking about entering a new-build market in the region or buying a newly built home in a popular holiday destination.
By the end of the first quarter of this year, the average price per square metre of new-build homes in Budapest had risen above HUF 1.9 million, 8% higher than in March 2025. Against this backdrop, Bucharest may look particularly attractive: even using the average exchange rates recorded during the first quarter, the gross average price remained below HUF 1.3 million per square metre despite annual price growth of more than 10%.
Among Poland’s major property markets – Warsaw, Kraków, the Tricity area (Sopot, Gdańsk and Gdynia), Wrocław, Poznań and Łódź – the capital is the most expensive. By the end of March, the average price per square metre of new-build homes in Warsaw, calculated in forints and referring to properties in shell-and-core condition, approached HUF 1.7 million. In Poznań, meanwhile, the average remained below HUF 1.2 million. These figures are among the findings of a regional market comparison prepared by Cordia, one of Hungary’s leading residential property developers.
“These potentially significant price differences may also spark the interest of Hungarian investors. For our projects abroad, we naturally assist buyers who are considering purchasing a new-build apartment either in regional markets or even on the Spanish Riviera,” said Áron Görög, Sales Director at Cordia.
“On the Costa del Sol, where we are now developing our second project, we are seeing significant appreciation. The average price of €7,220 per square metre recorded in March this year – equivalent to around HUF 2.6 million – was almost 9% higher than a year earlier. It is also important to note that developers there traditionally advertise net prices, to which 10% VAT is then added.”
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What about rental prices?
For a property investment, achievable rental income and the characteristics of the local rental market are also crucial.
In Poland, for example, lower prices per square metre come with unit rental prices comparable to or higher than the Budapest average. As a result, gross rental yields calculated in euros range between 4.5% and 6%, even after taking into account the additional costs required to bring a property to a fully finished, move-in-ready condition.
It is also worth looking at the differences between individual Polish cities. Poznań, for instance, is a major industrial and logistics hub, with low unemployment and more moderate new-build property prices. In Warsaw, on the other hand, investors can expect relatively high property prices but also stable rental demand, as the capital is the country’s main business centre.
In Bucharest, relatively low new-build prices compared with other regional markets offer an attractive entry point. However, gross rental yields are also broadly in line with the Polish average, at around 5–6%.
“Sales have recently begun at Cordia’s latest Bucharest project, the 274-apartment Centropolitan development. We are seeing significant interest in the project from buyers in Hungary as well,” the expert said.
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Double land costs and shell-and-core apartments in Warsaw
It is also worth examining what lies behind the significant differences in property prices across the region.
When interpreting Warsaw’s prices, it is important to bear in mind that, unlike in Hungary and Romania, developers traditionally offer apartments in shell-and-core rather than fully finished condition. This means buyers face substantial additional costs beyond the purchase price before they can move in.
At the same time, construction costs for an average Warsaw or Bucharest development are 25–33% lower than in Budapest. Land prices, however, tell a different story. In Warsaw, land represents a cost more than twice as high in the per-square-metre price of a property compared with the Hungarian or Romanian capital.
Differences in tax systems must also be taken into account. In Hungary, the standard VAT rate for new-build homes is currently 5%, and VAT can also be reclaimed in the case of homes in designated brownfield regeneration zones. In Poland, an 8% VAT rate applies to residential properties smaller than 150 square metres, while the portion above that threshold is subject to a 23% rate. In Romania, following a temporary period with a lower tax burden, the standard VAT rate returned to 21% in August this year.
“Alongside differences on the cost side, prices are also strongly influenced by the complexity of administration, the varying strength of demand and the range of government measures available to support buyers,” Görög emphasised.
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“The technology used in the buildings we develop is fundamentally similar. There is also no difference in the fact that we build apartments with terraces everywhere, although this is less important to Polish buyers. Efficient floor plans are expected across all markets, but environmental awareness and energy efficiency are less prominent considerations in Poland and Romania.
“As summers become increasingly hot, buyers in both Budapest and Bucharest are placing greater emphasis on effective cooling systems, whereas this is not as common in Poland, particularly in the northern parts of the country,” the expert said.
Interestingly, Poland is introducing energy-efficiency ratings for multi-apartment buildings only this year, making it the last EU member state to do so. Experts believe this could encourage investors to sell older, energy-inefficient apartments and instead seek out newly built, energy-efficient properties.
According to Cordia’s experience, however, there is one common trend across all markets: buyers everywhere are increasingly demanding higher quality, better-equipped homes and additional services, such as communal spaces and facilities, co-working areas, lounges and gastro bars.
Here, the company can draw particularly strongly on its experience in the more developed Spanish market. This gives Cordia a competitive advantage in markets such as Romania, where such extras are still relatively uncommon in projects developed by other companies.
