Hungarian real estate demand trends: Sustainability and cost-effectiveness

The Hungarian housing market has experienced a shift in demand towards sustainable, cost-effective options. Experts believe the market has reached a turning point after nine years of growth, which was temporarily disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The demand for energy-efficient housing, particularly panel apartments, has increased, while other types of housing may see price decreases due to decreasing demand and increased negotiation room for buyers.

Prudent buyers

The Hungarian newspaper Magyar Nemzet recently contacted OTP Ingatlanpont (a Hungarian real estate agency network) to find out more about the current trends in the Hungarian housing market. In their response, they explained that

buyers are more prudent, assessing their financing options and risks, and the level of maintenance costs has become a much more important consideration than before.

As a result, the demand for homes with good energy efficiency has increased.

Meanwhile, in terms of other types of housing, the sellers may experience a decreasing demand. Although some sellers are not willing to reduce the prices, buyers have an increased negotiation room. However, according to the experts, the rising credit rates, economic uncertainty, and growing winter utility costs may cause even the most determined sellers to adapt to the declining demand. Therefore, there is a high possibility that these sellers will reduce their prices by early 2023.

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The preference for panel apartments

Although, in general, the increase in housing prices has stopped, low energy cost apartments have never been more expensive. The predictable utility costs and sustainability have significantly increased the popularity of panel housing recently. In fact, these apartments have proven to be predictable in terms of sustainability costs. As a result, this type of housing has seen the highest rate of value increase: a total of 221 percent since 2014.

The paper also contacted Károly Benedikt, the PR and Analysis Manager of Duna House (another Hungarian real estate agency network). According to him,

demand has shifted towards more energy-efficient, low-maintenance properties, while there are more houses on the market that need to be modernised.

He highlighted that while the trend during the pandemic was that people looking for property tended to choose rural or suburban areas, this has now completely changed. The main reasons for the change in demand, he explained, include potentially high utility bills, inflation, soaring food prices and rising fuel prices. All this has led to a decline in moving out of the cities and a shift towards low-utility cost panel apartments.

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Source: magyarnemzet.hu