Hungary’s housing market appears to be losing momentum, with nationwide house prices stagnating in September while prices in Budapest fell for the second consecutive month, according to the latest housing price index from ingatlan.com.
The slowdown marks a notable shift after a period of rapid price growth. Since mid-2015, it has happened only three times before that all eight Hungarian regions simultaneously recorded slower price growth or falling prices compared with the previous month.
Budapest prices fall again
Nationwide, house prices rose by 0.4% in August but remained unchanged in September. Annual price growth also slowed sharply, from 11.2% in August to 8.2% in September.
The change has been even more pronounced in Budapest. Prices fell by 0.7% in August and a further 0.2% in September. Despite the recent declines, homes in the capital were still 3.3% more expensive than a year earlier.
“The price surge of last year peaked in November 2025, when we measured annual price increases of 18.4% nationwide and 24.1% in Budapest,” said László Balogh, chief economic expert at ingatlan.com.
“By September this year, the pace of nationwide price growth had fallen to less than half of that level, while in Budapest it had dropped to roughly one-seventh.”
According to Balogh, the figures indicate that price growth is slowing, although prices remain high. The nationwide market is currently stagnating, while Budapest is already seeing a modest decline. Annual nationwide house price growth has not been this low since December 2024. In Budapest, the latest figure represents the weakest annual growth recorded since February 2024.
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Some regions are already seeing falling prices
The slowdown is not limited to the capital. In September, prices fell by 0.6% month-on-month in Pest County and by 1.2% in the Northern Great Plain. In the Southern Great Plain, where prices had jumped by 2.2% in August, growth slowed to just 0.1% in September.
Meanwhile, prices rose by 1.5% in Central Transdanubia, 0.9% in Southern Transdanubia and 0.6% in Northern Hungary. Prices in Western Transdanubia remained unchanged.
Just a few months ago, annual price growth was at least 10% across all Hungarian regions. By September, however, only three regions remained above that threshold: Central Transdanubia, Southern Transdanubia and the Southern Great Plain.
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Why is the housing market slowing down?
One factor behind the slowdown is the unusually high price base from last year. When Hungary’s Otthon Start home-buying programme launched in September 2025, nationwide house prices jumped by 2.8% in a single month. This September, they remained unchanged.
However, affordability also appears to be playing an increasingly important role. As homes have become more expensive, fewer potential buyers can afford to enter the market, according to Balogh. The changing balance between supply and demand is particularly telling. The supply of newly built homes has reached a five-year high, while demand has fallen significantly.
The Otthon Start programme initially gave demand a major boost, contributing to widespread price increases. Developers and sellers, however, were slower to respond by increasing supply. By the time more new homes reached the market, prices had risen so much that some potential buyers could no longer afford them.
Six Budapest districts are now cheaper than last year
The latest figures also reveal significant differences between Budapest districts. At the beginning of October, the median price per square metre for second-hand flats and houses in Budapest stood at HUF 1.41 million (EUR 3,860), around 2% higher than a year earlier.
However, prices were already lower than last year in six districts:
- District IX: down 2.7%
- District III: down 1.9%
- District V: down 1.8%
- District XII: down 1.7%
- District XI: down 1.5%
- District XIII: down 0.5%
At the other end of the scale, prices rose by 10–12% in Districts XXII, XVII, XXIII and XVIII. District V remained Budapest’s most expensive area, with a median price of HUF 1.99 million per square metre. District I followed at HUF 1.87 million, while District XII stood at HUF 1.75 million. District XXIII was the most affordable, with a median price of HUF 958,000 per square metre.
