Real estate rollercoaster: Where prices still climb and where they don’t in Hungary

Hungary’s real estate market experienced a dramatic boom in early 2025, with prices and transaction volumes surging to decade highs. However, by late spring, the market had largely stabilised or even cooled in several regions, with interest and activity retreating from their peak.

According to the latest report by the Hungarian National Bank, nearly one in five property transactions in Budapest closed above the asking price in the first quarter of 2025. Nationwide, this figure stood at 8.3%. A surge of state bond redemptions had briefly flooded the market with funds, triggering a rapid increase in demand, particularly in rural areas.

During the final quarter of 2024, housing prices rose by 15.1% year-on-year (a real-term growth of 10.9%). By Q1 2025, annual price growth reached 15% across Hungary and a striking 19.2% in Budapest. Despite the impressive gains, a stagnation trend emerged as early as April in many regions, Hungarian tabloid Blikk reports.

Regional disparities emerge

In Budapest and the surrounding areas, only properties priced with precision — either low-cost flats or high-end luxury homes — continue to attract buyers. “The phones have stopped ringing,” Mariann Tahu of Gyémánt Real Estate told Blikk. Meanwhile, in Miskolc, demand remains strong, particularly for investment properties, due to significantly lower prices compared to the capital.

Vác and the northern suburbs of Budapest also saw early-year activity, but expectations driven by news of incoming state bond money never fully materialised. “We didn’t meet a single buyer using pension savings or government bonds,” said Tamás Erdősi from RDS Real Estate. He noted that a market correction began by April, with only realistically priced homes selling.