House prices in Budapest exceed the level recorded at end of 2008 by 51%, but in certain regions of Hungary they have still not reached pre-crisis levels, despite rising for several years, the National Bank of Hungary said in its biannual Housing Market Report released today.

In Western Transdanubia home prices rose by an also significant 25%. In the Southern Great Plain region prices were up 16.7% and in Central Hungary by 12.8%. Prices were up by 10.8% in Southern Transdanubia but were down 1.6% in the Northern Great Plain, and fell by 13.7% in Northern Hungary, national news agency MTI says.

Over the last three years, the annual nominal growth rate of house prices in Budapest was 21% on average, while at the national level house prices rose on average by 12.4%.

A breakdown by settlement types shows that house price trends now seem to be turning around. The annual rate of house price appreciation in Budapest gradually decelerated from 2016 and in 2017 as well. In Q1 and Q2 of 2017, the annual growth rate of house prices in Budapest was 17.3% and 14.6%, respectively.

According to the MNB house price index, prices in smaller settlements grew faster in 2017 than in the capital. In villages, the average annual increase in prices advanced by 26% compared to the rate of less than 10% in previous periods. In towns, average appreciation was 11%, broadly unchanged compared to previous periods.

According to preliminary data for H1 2017, the average per square meter price for new homes in Budapest was HUF 516,000, in county seats it was HUF 308,000 per sqm and in cities HUF 294,000 per sqm.

src: bbj.hu