News Article Resi development activity in Hungary hits 10-year low
by Property Forum | Residential

Few multi-unit residential construction works started in Hungary, a little above HUF 50 billion, mainly a few larger projects. And although Q2 brought a rise in Activity-Start, the value of the indicator was far below the quarterly numbers of 2017-2019 and 2021-2022, according to the latest EBI Construction Activity Report.

At the constant price, the volume of Q2 2023 resembles the years of 2014-2015. Such few multi-unit residential projects have not started since the first half of 2015 (at current price) and since 2014 (at constant price) than in H1 2023.

There is still a lot of uncertainty about the future of the market, with lending rates slowly edging downwards, which may have a positive impact on housing demand, but at the same time, from next year, several family subsidies available for home purchases will be phased out in cities where condominium construction has been a strong feature, so overall developers may remain cautious about starting projects.

The amount of completed condominium housing starts increased in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period of the previous year, and also slightly exceeded the first half of 2021. Overall, projects worth around HUF 150 billion have been completed. Further significant activity completion is expected this year, and if delays do not significantly change delivery dates, the value of condominium projects completed could exceed last year's.

In the last 4 quarters, the biggest share of multi-unit residential projects (61.4%) started in Budapest, while 64.3% in total was concentrated in Central Hungary. Eastern Hungary's share was 16.1%, while Western Hungary had 19.6 % in total Activity-Start.