The number of dwellings granted occupancy permits fell to its lowest level in almost a decade. There were only six weaker years than 2024 in this respect, between 2011 and 2016, at least as far as the data go.
And with a drop of more than 50% from the 2020 level of 28,000, a major turnaround would be needed to meet the 25,000 target set by the government last year.
In 2024, only 13,295 new dwellings were built in Hungary, 29% fewer than in the previous year.
In Budapest, 4,067 dwellings were put into use, 28% less than in 2023. The number of new dwellings also decreased in the other settlement categories compared to the previous year: by 26% in towns of county rank, by 37% in other cities and by 23% in villages.
- Half of the new dwellings in Budapest were built in two districts (11th and 13th). More dwellings were put into use in this part of the capital (2,300) than in the entire Budapest agglomeration (2,000).
- With the exception of the Southern Great Plain, where growth was 12%, all regions recorded fewer new dwellings delivered than in the previous year. The decline was most pronounced in South Transdanubia (-41%), followed by North Hungary and Pest (-39% and -37% respectively). In Győr-Moson-Sopron, which used to be a major region for housing construction, 31% fewer dwellings were handed over.
- The share of dwellings built by individuals increased to 38% from 36%, while the share of dwellings built by enterprises decreased to 61% from 64% compared to 2023.
- 50% of the dwellings put into use in new residential buildings are single-family dwellings, 44% are multi-family dwellings and 3.4% are apartment blocks. In terms of composition, this represents a decrease of 0.6 percentage points for multi-family dwellings and an increase of around 4 percentage points for single-family dwellings. The share of dwellings delivered in condominium complexes fell to less than half.
- The average floor area of occupied dwellings increased by 2.5 sqm to 96.6 sqm compared to 2023.
The number of dwellings to be built under building permits and notifications was 20,494, down 4.7% on the previous year.
Construction sentiment fell in the larger cities, by 12% in the capital and by 5.6% in the towns of county rank. A slight increase was recorded in the other municipalities: 2.0% more housing construction was initiated in towns of non-county rank and 1.1% more in villages.
- Compared to the previous year, the number of dwellings to be built increased in Western and Southern Transdanubia and in the Northern Great Plain, while it decreased in the other regions. At the county level, the 4.6-fold increase in Tolna County is noteworthy, mainly due to housing construction in Paks. In Hajdú-Bihar, the already high number of permits issued increased by 32%.
- In 45% of cases, developers used the simple declaration option. This proportion was lowest in Budapest (7.7%) and highest in the villages (86%).
- Based on the number of new building permits issued, a total of 8,671 dwellings are planned, which represents a stagnation compared to the previous year (-0.7%).
- The proportion of single dwellings planned was 79%, with a total of 6,848 units. The number of non-residential buildings planned was 3,530, 12% less than in 2023.
