Rent prices started to fall after two years of rises
Rents prices were 0.7 percent lower in December in Hungary and 0.9 percent lower in Budapest. Since March 2022, nominal rents in Hungary have surpassed their pre-pandemic peak in January 2020. Within the capital, the biggest decrease was in the inner districts of Pest, mostly 2.4 percent. Districts V and II are the most different in terms of price.
Rapid decline in rent prices
The rapid pace of rent increases, which started in 2021, slowed in August-November of the following year and turned into a rapid decline in December. According to portfolio.hu, rents declined by 0.7 percent overall and by 0.9 percent in Budapest. December rents were 20 percent higher than in the same period of the previous year in Hungary and 22 percent higher in Budapest, which were 73 percent and 65 percent higher compared to the base period in 2015.
Within the capital, the biggest decrease was in the inner districts of Pest, mostly 2.4 percent. Apart from other areas in Buda, all district groups saw a decrease in offered rents compared to the previous month. Rents fell by 1.4 percent in the outer districts of Budapest, 0.7 percent in the Buda Hill districts and 0.3 percent in the transitional districts of Pest. Since March 2022, nominal rents in Hungary have surpassed their pre-pandemic peak in January 2020 – by 19 percent countrywide and 15 percent in Budapest in December.
However, in real terms, values have been on a downward tendency since August. In December, real wages were 15 percent lower in Budapest than in January 2020, compared to 13 percent countrywide.
In the same period last year, rents in the inner districts of Pest exceeded the level by 24 percent. Rents in the transitional districts of Pest and other districts of Buda were 22 and 21 percent higher than a year earlier. Rents in the outer districts of Pest and the hill districts of Buda were 19 and 17 percent higher than a year earlier.
Read also Rent prices started to fall after two years of rises
A good investment option
As we wrote earlier, brick apartments in Budapest were sold for an average square metre price reaching HUF 963 thousand (EUR 2,446) in the last three months of 2022. The 5th district of Budapest remained the most expensive in Budapest, where the average price for a square metre is above HUF 1.2 million (EUR 3,085)
The brick apartment market changed significantly in 2022. In that case, the average square metre price was HUF 743,000 (EUR 1,912) in the fourth quarter. That is 2.5 percent lower than in the same period a year earlier, in 2021.
The specific rent prices
According to a survey by ingatlan.com, average rents in Budapest remained stable compared to previous months. The average rent is around HUF 200,000 (EUR 514), but districts V and II are the most different in terms of price. In these districts, the average rent is between HUF 350,000 and 285,000 (EUR 900-730), with rents available for a third of this in the cheapest cities of Békéscsaba, Miskolc, Szolnok, and Szekszárd, where the average rent is between HUF 90,000 and 100,000 (EUR 230-257).
In the cheapest districts of Pest – X, XX, XXI, XXIII – prices are around HUF 140,000-150,000 (EUR 360-385). These cheaper districts are similar in price to Győr, Székesfehérvár, Veszprém and Tatabánya where the average rent is also HUF 150,000 (EUR 385). The average rent in the county capitals is HUF 120,000 (EUR 308).
- Read also: Drastic change in Hungary’s property market