A guest column for Daily News Hungary by Emese Széll, Private Real Estate Advisor to Premium Clients in Hungary
If you follow international property headlines, you have probably read that Hungary “reopened its golden visa” in 2024 — a rare move at a time when the rest of Europe was quietly closing the door on residence-by-investment. Two years on, the more interesting story is not that Hungary opened the door, but how few people have walked through it — and why that barely matters for anyone who simply wants to own a beautiful home in Budapest.
Let me explain what actually happened, and what it means for you as a foreign buyer today.
What the Golden Visa program promised
Hungary’s guest investor residence permit — the vendégbefektetői tartózkodási engedély — was created by Act XC of 2023 and opened to applicants on 1 July 2024. On paper, it is one of the most generous residence permits in Europe: valid for ten years, renewable for another ten, with no minimum-stay requirement, family reunification for spouse, children and even parents, the right to work and run a business, and Schengen mobility of 90 days in any 180.
The qualifying investment narrowed over time to two realistic routes: at least €250,000 in units of a Hungarian real-estate investment fund (registered with the National Bank of Hungary, held for five years), or a €1,000,000 donation to a higher-education institution. A third option — a €500,000 direct residential-property purchase — was written into the law but quietly removed in mid-January 2025, before a single applicant could ever use it.
What actually happened
The numbers tell their own story. By the second half of 2025, roughly 273 people had entered the pipeline and only about 78 had received a permit — raising some €19.5 million for the country in its first year. To put that in perspective, Hungary’s earlier residency-bond scheme of 2013–2017 processed on the order of 20,000 foreign nationals. The new program is a fraction of a fraction.
Why so quiet? Not for lack of interest in Hungary — the reasons are structural:
✦ A very narrow channel. Only two fund managers were ever qualified to sell the investment units, so for months there was, in practice, no compliant product to buy.
✦ Heavy intermediary fees. Brokers typically charged 25–35 million HUF per client, a striking premium on a €250,000 investment.
✦ Sanctions and banking friction. EU rules connected to the Russia–Ukraine war barred a large share of the original applicant pool and made moving the required capital into EU accounts extremely difficult. Layered on top were tightening KYC, anti-money-laundering and source-of-funds checks.
None of this reflects a weakness in Hungarian property itself. It reflects a program that was structurally constrained from the start.
Hungary in the European picture
It is worth remembering that Hungary is the exception, not the rule. Spain abolished its golden visa in 2025; Portugal removed its real-estate route back in 2023; Ireland and the United Kingdom closed their schemes in 2023 and 2022; Greece sharply raised its thresholds. The recurring criticisms — that these programs inflate local housing prices and raise security and money-laundering concerns — are precisely the pressures that shaped Hungary’s cautious and ultimately little-used design.
The part most readers miss: you don’t need it
Here is the point I most want international readers to take away. You do not need the golden visa to own property in Hungary.
Non-EU/EEA nationals can buy almost any residential property through a straightforward acquisition permit issued by the competent government office under Government Decree 251/2014. The statutory processing time is 45 days, and the permit is granted unless the purchase would harm a specific public interest. EU, EEA and Swiss citizens don’t even need that. On top of the purchase price, a buyer should factor in the 4% transfer duty and, realistically, 6–9% in total taxes and fees before any renovation.
If your goal is residence rather than just ownership, there are more stable, transparent routes than the investor scheme — most notably the EU Blue Card for highly qualified professionals (2026 gross salary threshold of 1,001,048 HUF per month), other employment-based permits and company formation, supported by Hungary’s 9% corporate tax rate, the lowest in the EU.
In other words: the headline-grabbing “golden visa” is, for most buyers, a distraction. The doors that matter are wide open.
Why Budapest premium property still makes sense
Budapest offers a rare combination: turn-of-the-century architectural heritage, a genuinely high quality of life, a central European location (Vienna is about two and a half hours away) and prices that remain attractive next to Western European capitals. Demand for landmark period apartments, Danube-front homes, panoramic penthouses and villas in leafy residential areas is durable.
The premium heart of the city is well defined: District V (Belváros-Lipótváros, around the Parliament — the most expensive district), District I (the Castle District and Víziváros) and the Buda hills of Districts II and XII (Rózsadomb, Pasarét, Svábhegy).
The market context matters too. Hungary posted the highest nominal housing-price growth in the EU in 2025 — the National Bank reported annual growth accelerating to nearly 30% in Budapest in the third quarter. Prime stock in the top districts commonly trades between roughly 1.9 and 2.8 million HUF per square metre, with Danube-view or Parliament-adjacent units occasionally above 3 million. After such a strong year, 2026 looks set to be a more balanced, price-sensitive, stabilising phase — which, in my experience, is exactly when discerning buyers do best, because value once again rewards patience and good advice over speculation.
Two rental-market rules are worth noting for investors: new short-term rentals are banned in District V from 1 January 2026, and a broader Airbnb moratorium runs to the end of 2026.
Have you read this one? Airbnb bust continues in Budapest: another district joins the regulations
What else buyers should know
A general trend across international premium real estate markets is that the share of off-market transactions — deals concluded without public listing — keeps rising, driven mainly by buyers’ and sellers’ demand for discretion. The same pattern is visible in Hungary’s high-end segment: some of the finest Buda villas, elegant green-belt residences and exceptional inner-city apartments never appear on public portals for this reason, moving instead through private channels.
Foreign buyers should also be prepared for the fact that entering a new market is a complex process: the language, the legal steps, the taxation and the negotiating customs can all differ from what they are used to. A precise understanding of the local legal and tax environment is essential to a successful transaction.
Finally: in a high-value transaction, discretion is not a luxury; it is a baseline expectation. A well-structured purchase should protect not only the property, but also the buyer’s time, reputation, privacy and negotiating position.
In closing
Hungary’s golden visa may have stalled, but Hungary itself has not. For the international buyer who wants a secure European home, a portfolio asset that holds its value, or a quiet base in the heart of Central Europe, the opportunities are real — and, crucially, accessible without any investor scheme.
Emese Széll, an expert in the Hungarian premium real estate market premiumingatlanok.com
This article is intended for general market and economic information purposes.
If you missed: Can foreigners buy property in Hungary? Everything you need to know before investing
Featured image: depositphotos.com
