10,354 residential property deals were closed in Hungary in December 2020, according to the latest monthly transaction estimate by real estate group Duna House. This marks a 2% growth over December 2019. 131,460 transactions were closed in total last year, marking a 12% year-on-year decline.
The annual drop was caused by the lockdown measures implemented during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, due to which turnover plunged by nearly 40% y-o-y in March, April, and May. The market hit rock bottom in April with a contraction of almost 60% in the number of residential property transactions.
The home building programme launched in January 2021 should help boost demand, Duna House estimates, adding that this could lead to a rise in the number of transactions to between 130,000 and 150,000 this year.
