MAP: These are the favourite areas for home buyers in Hungary

In terms of sales, 2021 was the last strong year for the domestic housing market in Hungary. That year, the number of homes sold in a year reached the 150,000 level seen before the epidemic. Last year was already weaker than that. What is more, this year promises to be even weaker.

Housing transactions in the country

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Hungarian economic news portal Portfolio looked at the differences in the number of sales per 10,000 inhabitants across the country for 2021, based on the TÉR-KÉP collection published by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (Központi Statisztikai Hivatal, KSH).

By 2021, the number of second-hand housing transactions in the capital and some counties significantly exceeded pre-epidemic levels, Portfolio reports. In Pest county, however, sales were significantly below the two-year average. This is reflected in the much lower than average sales per 10,000 inhabitants in the districts. 

As shown in the graph above, Pest county had a relatively low number of transactions in 2021. According to Portfolio, on the one hand, this can be explained by the fact that in 2020, more people decided to move to the agglomeration. The main reason for this was the restrictions due to the COVID pandemic. On the other hand, the number of investors increased again in 2021, which also did not target the agglomeration municipalities.