150-155 thousand transactions are expected to be closed on the housing market of Hungary by the end of the year. This matches the turnover of the last year before the financial crisis hit, 2008. And the following years will be even better, some analysts say.
According to experts at Otthon Centrum in the following 3-4 years the market can easily exceed the turnover of the years prior to the crisis and the number of transactions will pass 170-180 thousand.
Average prices on the national market are already 15 percent higher than they were in 2013, the absolute low point of the year following the crisis, and they are only 4 percent behind nominal high point of 2008.
Used brick-built and panel apartments can be sold much faster than a year ago. Even in January a brick-built house could be sold in 4 months on average, but now it can be done in 3 months. Panels are even faster to be bought: in the beginning of the year they spent an average 3 months on the market, now it’s only 1.5 months.
Complete turnover of the market will close in on pre-crisis levels this year, and while growth is the greatest in the capital and Western Hungary, all regions experienced positive trends.
The booming market means prices also grew significantly, especially because several investors appeared in past years. In Budapest this means around 20%, but prices also increase in the countryside by 10-15%.
Sites suitable for constructions have also seen increased interest and increasing prices, along with the number of construction permits issued. Experts however noted that there is a significant base effect behind this growth, as constructions nearly completely halted during and after the years of the crisis.
(Source: http://www.vg.hu/vallalatok/ingatlan/magahoz-tert-a-lakaspiac-460710)
