All you need to know about holiday house prices in Hungary

Even though the prices have grown in holiday areas as well, holiday houses are still cheaper per square meter than flats. Hvg.hu reports that this was tempting for less wealthy private persons and for more wealthy investors.

Those who bought a holiday house a year ago, made a great deal: after 10-12 months, their wealth is possibly increased by 40 percent, as there is a growing interest in holiday homes. Those impatient to profit immediately can sell their estates quite quickly.

Most of the summer houses on sale are in the neighborhood of Budapest or lake Balaton, where the prices are much higher: in some cases they cost 970 euros per square meter, but on the lake shore it’s not unusual to have a price of 2000-2600 euro per square meter, or even higher.

The Silver- and Golden shore

These houses are usually built on the shore with a view of the lake, and a nice parking slot: this is a fancy neighbourhood. Entrepreneurs, wealthy individuals buy houses here, who come here from Budapest. There are many Dutch, German, Belgian, Czech or Slovakian-Hungarian investors.

Russians, however, are less frequent buyers; since the introduction of sanctioning they left Hévíz as well. Some of the wealthier Ukrainians and Kazakhs buy houses on the shores of Balaton or in the bathing towns.

The new housing projects around lake Balaton involve 100 houses, since there are rarely any lands suitable for construction. Lot of people would like to buy a 500-600 square meter estate for 49-98 thousand euros – if there were any.

For the price of 65-98 thousand euros, many would buy houses, but there aren’t any houses for in the popular areas of Balaton. If a fairly priced house is put on sale, it is sold within a week.

Empty estates on the southern region of Balaton (closer to Budapest) are 80-130 euros per square meter, right on the shore this price is 390-425 euros. A newly built, nice family house can cost you 1300 euros.

The western parts

On the northern shores of Balaton, real estates are popular only up to Zánka, the western region (around Keszthely) is not that preferred. You can get a traditional house, built in the eighties, for 32-49 thousand euros.

It is rather the Western-Hungarians who buy houses here. If the clearway is finished between M7 and Keszthely, that might boost the regions popularity, as it would only take 1.5 hour to get there.

Velence

Since it became easy to get there, Lake Velence has become a favourite spot for those owners, who reside in their vacation houses from spring to autumn, or during the whole year.

László Balogh, the economic expert at ingatlan.com, believes that Lake Velence is so close now, that there is a wave of ‘migration’ during April-May from Budapest. In the warmer months, people come to work from there, or work from their vacation houses with the help of the internet, making benefit of the lower renting prices.

Nándor Mester, Otthontérkép’s analyst says that many people upgrade their summer houses to a fully functioning home, or they rebuild it entirely. 30-40 percent of people even sell their houses at Budapest or in Eastern-, Southern-Hungary and move to Lake Velence or Balaton.
The Danube-bend is also very popular because of the nearby capital, the Danube, and the woods.

So, is it a good deal?

If you’re an investor, buying a summer house might not be the most beneficial purchase on a long-term. After the introduction of zero interest rate and following the broker scandals, the prices have grown so much in the past year, that they won’t be higher anytime soon.