Germans, Slovakians, Chinese and Romanians buy up Hungarian property

Foreign property buyers swarm Hungary’s property market. They buy up real estate at the Northern and Eastern border and in the Transdanubian region. Foreign demand for Hungarian real estate is already above the pre-COVID level. Interestingly, Budapest is not that popular because Chinese, Vietnamese and Israeli buyers have not returned yet in high numbers.

According to Pénzcentrum, the shock caused by the Covid pandemic is not over. However, foreign buyers returned to the Hungarian property market. 2018 saw 7,300 contracts, but in 2022, that number rose to 8,000. However, changes do not involve only numbers.

Four countries jumped out concerning foreigners buying property in Hungary: Germany, Slovakia, China, and Romania. Between 2018 and 2022, most buyers came from Germany, and their number doubled (2127). Chinese buyers disappeared because of the coronavirus. Fortunately, they came back by 2022, although their number remained only half the 2018 peak (814).

Romanian buyers engaged in 750 transactions, 25% less than in 2018. Slovakians did the other way around. They increased the number of property transactions by 45%. Thus, they became the second biggest foreign group in that regard, besides the Germans with 1,042 apartments acquired.

Chinese, Vietnamese and Israelis buy property almost only in Budapest. 9 out of 10 transactions happened in the capital in 2022. Meanwhile, the Dutch and Germans are a fan of the Hungarian countryside. In 2022, only 6% of their apartments were in Budapest. We wrote about a Dutchman who bought an entire Hungarian village to rent it out in THIS article.

Country villages and towns are becoming popular among foreign buyers

Romanians, Slovakians, Austrians, Belgians and Swiss also chose villages and towns outside Budapest. That is probably because they come only after they retire to enjoy the healthy Hungarian countryside, the relative safety here and the fact that everything is cheaper here than in their homes. Meanwhile, East Asians do not come here to retire but to work a lot.

In 2018, 42% of the transactions concerned properties in Budapest. That rate decreased to only 33% by 2022.

Austrians and Ukrainians paid 119% more for an average real estate in 2022 than in 2018. Meanwhile, the lowest price increase concerned French buyers with only 19%. That is because they turned to properties in the countryside. Romanians experienced a 25% rise because they bought property near the Hungarian-Romanian border.

In 2022, the number of buyers coming from the UK increased significantly. They bought thrice that many apartments and houses than when they were EU members. In Budapest, the British were the second biggest buyers community besides the Chinese in 2022.

Interestingly, Russians, Ukrainians and Romanians would like to buy expensive properties in Budapest’s elite Buda districts, Csaba Laczi, a regional director of OTP Ingatlanpont, said.

Read also:

• Huge success for PM Orbán? Tens of billions of euros may come to Hungary soon – Read more HERE
• Lots of foreigners buy property in Hungary: these are the most popular places