The Hungarian housing market moved closer to the limits of affordability during the first half of 2026, with elevated property prices contributing to weaker demand, slower price growth and a shift in buyer activity, according to the latest market report from real estate brokerage Duna House.
The company said 9,862 residential transactions were completed in June, up 10.9 per cent from May but 0.5 per cent below the same month last year, leaving monthly market activity broadly unchanged on an annual basis. During the first six months of the year, 56,554 property transactions were recorded, representing a 10.8 per cent decline compared with the first half of 2025, when the market was still expanding.
Sales data showed that homes measuring between 40 and 60 square metres remained the most sought-after properties during the second quarter in both Buda and Pest, as well as across the country outside Central Hungary.
In Buda, most transactions were completed at prices between 1.2 million and 1.6 million forints per square metre, while in Pest the most active price range was between 1.2 million and 1.4 million forints per square metre. Nationwide, excluding Central Hungary, the share of homes sold for more than 600,000 forints per square metre increased from 44 per cent to 50 per cent over the past year.
Property prices continued to rise across most market segments. The average price of panel apartments increased from 661,000 to 759,000 forints per square metre in eastern Hungary and from 671,000 to 806,000 forints in the western part of the country.
Average prices for second-hand brick-built homes also climbed, reaching HUF 434,000 per square metre in eastern Hungary and HUF 494,000 in western Hungary, up from HUF 371,000 and HUF 469,000 respectively a year earlier.
In Budapest, panel apartments averaged 1.25 million forints per square metre in Buda and 1.13 million forints in Pest, compared with 1.12 million and 1.06 million respectively in the second quarter of 2025.
Brick-built apartments sold for an average of more than 1.28 million forints per square metre in Buda, 1.11 million forints in Pest and above 1.46 million in the city centre. A year earlier, the corresponding averages stood at 1.33 million in Buda, 951,000 in Pest and 1.24 million in central districts.
The composition of buyers also changed significantly. First-time homebuyers accounted for 40 per cent of purchases in Budapest in June, up from 19 per cent a year earlier. Outside the capital, their share increased from 27 per cent to 37 per cent.
Investment purchases ranked as the second most common reason for buying property both in Budapest and elsewhere in the country, followed by households upgrading to larger homes.
First-time buyers spent an average of 69.05 million forints on homes in Budapest and 48.23 million forints elsewhere in Hungary. Buyers purchasing investment properties spent an average of 72.7 million in the capital and 36.46 million outside Budapest.
Those moving to larger homes paid significantly more, with average spending reaching 122.8 million forints in Budapest and 72.62 million in the rest of the country.
On the selling side, the disposal of previous investment properties became the leading motivation for listing homes. In Budapest, the proportion of sales driven by investors rose from 30 per cent to 48 per cent over the past year, while outside the capital it increased from 23 per cent to 32 per cent.
According to Duna House, the combined trends on both the buying and selling sides indicate that investors are gradually withdrawing from the market. They are purchasing fewer properties while making up an increasing share of sellers, reflecting a broader cooling of Hungary’s residential real estate sector as affordability pressures intensify.
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