Hungary’s property market, the hottest in the European Union over the past decade, appears to have peaked, according to data from one of the country’s biggest realtors.
(Bloomberg) — Hungary’s property market, the hottest in the European Union over the past decade, appears to have peaked, according to data from one of the country’s biggest realtors.
Apartment prices declined 4% on average in Hungary in the fourth quarter from the previous three-month period, while the cost of houses fell 5%, Otthon Centrum said in a statement on Tuesday. The cost of Hungarian apartments still rose 25% last year overall despite the end-year decline, according to the realtor.
Record low interest rates, housing subsidies and a jump in wage growth had fueled Hungary’s housing, with real estate prices rising by 156% since 2015, the most in the EU, according to Eurostat data through the third quarter of last year.
The trend changed when Hungary struggled to contain the economic fallout from Russia’s war on Ukraine. The EU’s fastest inflation forced the central bank to raise the key interest rate to 18%, crimping demand for mortgages.
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