Residential property prices fell in Budapest during the third quarter of 2026, according to the Duna House Barometer. The price index for panel flats dropped from 525 to 514 points, while the index for brick-built flats fell from 415 to 406 points, representing a 2% decline in both categories. The brick-built flat index is now 1% below its level from the same period last year. Nationally, the residential price index edged down from 464 to 462 points, with the annual growth rate slowing sharply from 19% in the second quarter to 6%. Western Hungary saw the steepest quarterly drop, with brick-built flat prices falling 4%, while only brick-built flats in eastern Hungary recorded a meaningful rise, of 3%.
Negotiation discounts have widened across the country. In Budapest, the typical discount on asking prices has risen from around 1% a year ago to between 4% and 5%. In western Hungary, the discount on provincial brick-built flats grew from 3.4% to 7.1%, and in eastern Hungary from 3.5% to 6.5%. Properties are also taking longer to sell. Panel flats in Buda took an average of 101 days to sell in September, compared with 55 days a year earlier, while sale times for brick-built flats in Pest rose from 80 to 96 days.
Transaction volumes declined compared with the previous year. Duna House estimates that 26,754 residential properties changed hands in the third quarter, down 6% from the second quarter and 22% below the same period a year earlier. The company notes that some of the annual drop reflects the spike in activity triggered by the launch of the Otthon Start Programme in August and September last year. Compared with the third quarter of 2024, the decline is 13%. In the first nine months of the year, 83,307 transactions were completed, 15% fewer than in the same period a year earlier.
Demand has weakened and investor activity has retreated. The Duna House demand index stood at 65 points in September, down from 87 points in September of the previous year. First-time buyers remain the largest group of purchasers, accounting for 39% of transactions in both Budapest and the provinces. The share of investment purchases in Budapest fell from 31% to 18% over the year, while 35% of Budapest sales involved properties previously bought as investments.
Mortgage borrowing has also become more cautious. The average home loan in Budapest decreased from HUF 35.9 million to HUF 34.4 million. Nationally, the average loan represented 47% of property value, compared with 50% in the second quarter. Duna House notes that the key question for the remainder of the year is whether wider discounts will be sufficient to bring enough buyers back to the market.
