Things to consider when buying real estate in Budapest

Unsplash/ Kate Kasiutich

Over the past few years, real estate prices have shown quite a significant increase in the capital and in cities with county rights. In addition, due to the pandemic, more and more people try to move to more rural areas, but the number of relocations within the capital has also grown. Here are some statistics for you to keep in mind when choosing a location in Budapest.

Recent statistics

According to Pénzcentrum, even though last year, the number of people who moved out of the Hungarian capital broke a 16-year record, the real estate market in Budapest is far from dying down. According to some statistics, 101,000 people have moved within the districts of Budapest.

2020 statistics show that the popularity of cities has decreased, and people tried to move into more rural cities or towns. The most popular counties are Pest (perhaps mainly the agglomeration), Veszprém, Győr-Moson-Sopron, Fejér, and Somogy.

Overall, 265,000 people have moved within Hungary, and the capital’s numbers mean that 38% of the relocations happened in Budapest.

Breaking down the data of the Central Statistical Office, we can find out which districts within Budapest were the most popular. According to Dávid Valkó, a senior analyst, 4,700 people have relocated within Újbuda. He said that the reason for this is the district’s size and the diversity of housing options and price categories.

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Valkó adds that Óbuda, Zugló, and district VIII can also be similarly good choices because of their diversity of housing options.

The most stable option on the real estate market was district XXIII, while Újbuda was the most popular, with the most in-district relocations and the most people arriving to the district.

It is also typical to move to similar but cheaper locations, and new properties with lower prices are generally very attractive, the senior analyst added.

Examining population retention, the winners are the periphery and the typically cheap districts XXI and XVI, and district III, with diverse real estate and recently booming housing construction.

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Booming construction

In connection with these trends, it can also be observed that housing construction has increased by 30% compared to 2020. In addition, the record-breaking new housing construction numbers of last year could be broken again as, according to Ingatlan.com, it is possible that by the end of 2021, a total of 25,000 new flats will be handed over.

By the end of October this year, more than 8,200 new residential properties went up for sale, according to Ingatlan.com. This represents an increase of 38% compared to last year.

According to Pénzcentrum, if you want real estate in Budapest, it is most profitable to look for modern properties and flats, but be prepared that due to increased building material costs and the decreasing number of suitable lots, the prices have gone up quite a bit.

“There are very significant differences in the capital, in district XII, the average price is already at 2 million forints (€5,555) per m², but in other parts of the city – in districts XX, XXI, and XXIII – the new flats were offered for just over 700,000 forints (€1,945) per m²,” László Balogh, the leading economics expert, says.

The verdict

In conclusion, keep an eye on districts with a wide variety of housing options, and new flats in general can have a lower price per m² compared to other options within the capital. Also, because the periphery and agglomeration have become more and more popular since the pandemic, those places might be a good choice of investment.