Category: Global Investment Column

Small country – big opportunities

Budapest, the capital of Hungary is a unique combination of old and new, history and development, art and science, emotion and technology. A city full of life and color, as well as premium investment opportunities within the country and also starting out from there in the European Union. Arriving to the capital the architectural richness strikes us – classicist and modern buildings alter, making not only the city itself, but also the real estate market very colorful.

Budapest, a city of 2,5 million people has an emerging real estate market with nearly 900.000 apartments, and a promising trend in the reorganization of the rental market. Hungary’s largest city is home to some 160.000 foreigners and expatriates, but not only they are the ones renting their homes: a growing number of locals choose to rent long term as well.

The city is located on the two sides of the Danube river: Buda being the hilly, more residential area, while the Pest side is flat and is characterized more as the business center. The most renowned monuments of the city line the river coast on both sides: the Parliament building, the royal Castle, the Statue of Liberty, the Basilica and of course the beautiful bridges on the Danube itself. The view from the Buda hills to this signature skyline is clearly breathtaking – and is also priced in the properties of these neighborhoods.

The real estate market – together with the Hungarian economy – has slowly found its way upward from the recession of the last 9-10 years. Real estate professionals of the local market believe, that the market has reached rock bottom by now, and it looks like a growing trend started in the first half of this year. The number of new residential developments have dropped by 90% between 2005 and 2012 – and by now newly built apartments have become strongly sought for by buyers, offering a good potential for residential developments.

The office market has suffered even more by the recession, and came to a turning point around the Q1 2014 with a total stock of 3,2 million sqm office space and very positive perspective. To put it shortly, Budapest is cheap, and this is not only true for rents. It is relatively cheap to buy commercial property in the Hungarian capital compared to other cities in the region and the Budapest market is offering more attractive yields than its competitors in the region.

At the same time interest rates have dropped, and after long years of “credit hunger”, Hungarians have reasonable access to financing their property purchases. Parallel to this, financial investments show weaker returns, and turn the attention of investors back to the real estate market. These trends all add up to a strengthening market with plenty of opportunities and a well usable infrastructure. Property management and facility management companies, real estate agents, law offices and financial institutions are all at the investor’s service to build a team of reliable local professionals for any real estate investment. And the time might just be right to step into this market.