Residential rents in Hungary rose slightly in February, but looking at the longer term, this appears to be more stagnation than a substantial turnaround, the joint rent index of the Central Statistical Office (KSH) and real estate portal ingatlan.com shows. The average rent rose 1.1% in Hungary and 0.8% in Budapest month-on-month.
Rents rising for the first time in six months
- Rental fees in Hungary were 1.1% higher in February than in the previous month, which effectively means stagnation. Year-on-year, the decrease remains in the double digits.
- Budapest saw average rents increase by 0.8% in February, also close to stagnation, but there were certain parts of the city where rents rose 2.5% or even 3%.
- In a buyers' market, rents in mid-March were highest in Districts 1, 2, and 5 with the average between HUF 160,000 and HUF 170,000. Meanwhile, rents in the cheapest districts, Districts 19 and 20, were around HUF 110,000.
- Outside the capital, the average rent was HUF 87,000 in Pécs and HUF 110,000 in Győr.
According to the KSH-ingatlan.com index, rents in Hungary rose for the first time in six months in February as the average rent rose 1.1% nationwide and 0.8% in Budapest month on month. "For the time being, it is too early to talk about a sustained increase. All the more so because year on year, the rent index is down 10% in Hungary and 14% in Budapest. In practice, what we are seeing now is stagnation," László Balogh, Chief Business Expert at ingatlan.com, said.
Rents moved differently in various parts of the country in February. The Central Transdanubian and South Plains regions registered 3% growth month on month, while rents in the South Transdanubian and North Hungarian regions and in Pest county were 0.5% lower than in January. In Budapest, the average rent rose 3% in the mountain districts of Buda (1, 2 and 12) and 2.5% in the outer districts of Pest (4, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 23). Meanwhile, rents increased by just 0.1% in the inner Pest districts (5, 6, 7, 8, 9) and by 0.3% in the so-called transitional districts (13 and 14). Compared to February 2020, various parts of the capital saw rents decrease by 10% to 17.3%.
The average rent in Budapest remained at HUF 130,000 a month. The most expensive locations were Districts 1, 2 and 5, where rent averaged HUF 160,000 to HUF 170,000. The cheapest parts of the city were Districts 19 and 20, with an average monthly rent of 110,000.
Looking at the market outside the capital, we see that the average rent in a buyers' market the middle of March were HUF 87,000 in Pécs, HUF 90,000 in Nyíregyháza, between HUF 100,000 and HUF 110,000 in Debrecen and Kecskemét, HUF 108,000 in Szombathely and HUF 110,000 in Győr.
The third wave of the coronavirus pandemic and the accompanying restrictions have brought uncertainty to the rental market, Balogh said, adding that there has been no palpable rise in rents since the beginning of March
