Residential construction market appears to have passed its low point, with new completions up 4.3% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026 and building permits exploding 64% to nearly 9,300, Ingatlan.com shows.
A total of 2,821 new residential units were handed over in Q1, while the pipeline of planned projects, based on permits and simplified notifications, jumped sharply, a fivefold increase in new-build supply, from 3,400 to over 15,000 units.
Budapest dominates, but regions heat up
Budapest and county capitals both saw 13% growth in new units handed over, while other cities managed just over 1%. Nearly 90% of the capital’s almost 1,000 completions came from three districts: X, XI and XIII.
Demand trends are shifting toward smaller settlements, where interest in new-build houses has outpaced apartments. In the first four months of 2026, inquiries for new houses rose 19% year-on-year, while apartment interest dipped by a similar amount.
Villages and large villages saw the strongest surge at 25%, with county seats up 4% and smaller cities flat. Budapest inquiries fell 15%. Balogh László, chief economist at ingatlan.com, noted that construction “could be past the bottom”.
Prices cross HUF 1m/sqm across all settlement types
Median prices for apartments and houses combined have now exceeded HUF 1 million per sqm in every settlement category. Villages and large villages still offer the lowest entry for new houses at under HUF 900,000/sqm (apartments HUF 1.03m).
All county seats in Hungary see a median HUF 970,000 price for houses and over HUF 1.2m for apartments. In Budapest, new houses hit nearly HUF 1.3m/sqm and apartments have crossed HUF 1.7m.
