Prices for new homes have risen for almost five years in a row for new homes and for almost four years for resale homes. In the third quarter of 2017 new home prices were up by 3.5 percent and resale home prices by 2.1 percent compared to the second quarter.

Adjusted for changes to the composition of homes sold as well as price, prices were up by an annual 11.2 percent for new homes and 2.8 percent higher for resale homes in the first three quarters of 2017. The composition index for resale home sales shows that activity on the real estate market of smaller settlements has risen.

Settlements with low home prices where fewer sales happened earlier now represent a higher share of the market. In the first three quarters of last year 95,300 homes were sold, 4 percent more than in the same period a year earlier. The number of resale homes was 92,400 and 2,900 new homes were sold.

There were 4,100 new home constructions for investment purposes in January-September, more than the actual number of new home sales.

KSH said that up till now few homes construction projects since the 2016 boom have reached a stage generating sales. In the capital resale homes sold for 23.3 million forints (EUR 75,000) on average, 2.1 million forints more than in 2016.

The average per square meter price of resale homes in Budapest rose to 410,000 forints from 361,000 forints. New home prices rose by 11 percent to 26.2 million forints on average. In county seats resale home prices were up by 9.9 percent at 23.3 million forints while new home prices climbed by 14.7 percent to 20.2 million forints.

KSH notes that as a general trend the real estate market has become more active in agglomeration areas following the economic crises.

Home prices have risen in the agglomerations of Budapest and county seats but there is a growing price difference between central and non-central settlements and the districts of Budapest.

Republished with permission of Hungary Matters, MTI’s daily newsletter.