Looking for real estate close to Budapest’s universities? Useful info

On 21 July, the admission thresholds for higher education will be announced. This means that the main rental market season will officially start. After two years of foreclosure, this year’s rental market could go even faster. Experts say it is worth starting your search for the ideal apartment early. OTP Real Estate Point’s expert analyses the current situation of the Budapest rental and apartment market. Continue reading below for more details.

Hungarian real estate turnover

With just one week to go, there are almost 100,000 students who are applying to higher education this year. They will find out whether they will be able to continue their studies in Budapest from September. The traditional summer lull has been followed by a big rush due to the pandemic, writes VG. The Budapest regional manager of OTP Real Estate Department expects that despite the steady rise in rents, the late summer and autumn rental season in the capital will bring an intense increase in turnover and further price rises.

The manager says the following. “Compared to last year, the rental market in Budapest has clearly recovered, with rising rents and a steady increase in demand. We are already seeing the arrival of prospective university students, although the real end-of-summer rush is not here yet. In addition, with the resurgence of tourism, short-term rentals in the city centre have now also been revived. With a significant increase in demand, landlords who have switched from short- to long-term rentals are also starting to return to the market.”

Recent statistics from the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) also show that everything seems to be back to normal in the capital. In May, the pace of rent growth accelerated compared to April. Average rents in the capital were rising by 21 percent in May 2022, in line with the national average for the same period in 2021. More tellingly, rents in the capital also increased by 5.8 percent compared to January 2020, the peak period before the coronavirus epidemic.

• Read Also: Useful: new cap rules on household bills in Hungary announced!

Rising prices in Budapest

Compared to April, average rents in the inner and transitional districts of Pest and the Buda Hills increased the most. Compared to May 2021, the inner districts of Pest recorded the largest increase. Although the inner districts also saw the largest decrease in rents in the context of the coronavirus epidemic.

According to Csaba Laczi, increase in demand and prices, and changes in preferences can also be observed. “As the epidemic situation has intensified, the time spent between four walls has also increased, probably leading to a shift towards larger apartments. This trend has been reversed this year, and the popularity of smaller one-and-a-half bedroom apartments is growing again.”

• Read Also: Invited to a Hungarian wedding? These are the things you should be aware of

Average price per square metre around the popular Budapest universities

The OTP Lakóingatlan Értéktérkép revealed the average price rise around the Budapest universities. According to them, the increase close to the Eötvös Loránd University, the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, the Semmelweis University and the Budapest Corvinus University was 9-15 pc. As a result, the average price per square metre in the 11th district is 2110 EUR. That is 1987 EUR in the 9th district and 1720 EUR in the 8th district.

Mr Laczi said that buying real estate in Budapest is still a good investment option. Furthermore, due to the weak forint, it is even more profitable for foreign investors. We wrote about that in THIS article.

Source: vg.hu, ksh.hu