Hungary records steepest house‑price rise in 25 years as Otthon Start loan scheme reshapes market

The Hungarian National Bank (MNB) reported that in 2025 nominal house prices rose 23.5% nationwide, delivering a 19% real‑price increase – the strongest in the past quarter‑century. Transaction volume reached 152,000 sales, but fell 18% in the first quarter of 2026. Overvaluation hit 22.5% in Q4 2025, up 8.8 percentage points from the previous year.

The government‑backed Otthon Start programme, launched in September 2025 with 3% subsidised mortgages, dominated the market. By March 2026, banks had signed 33,200 loan contracts totalling about HUF 1.16 trillion, with roughly 80% of all mortgages now coming from the scheme. The share of first‑time buyers in Budapest rose from 25% to 40% within a year, while investors became the majority on the seller side. The programme also lifted the proportion of purchases financed by loans from around 30‑40% historically to over 60% in early 2026.

MNB expects the rapid price growth to ease, projecting a 4.5% quarterly price change for the second quarter of 2026, with a modest 1.0% rise in Budapest. Nonetheless, higher required down‑payments and the surge in loan‑driven purchases make home‑ownership increasingly unattainable for many Hungarians.