Foreigners purchase 5,000 homes in Budapest each year
Foreigners buy 1,800 homes in Budapest each year, and including homes bought by foreign companies, the number is around 5,000, Ágnes Péter of Otthon Centrum told a BBJ property market conference on November 24. Citizens of Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands, Spain and Scandinavian countries buy the most homes in Budapest. Many have never even seen the properties, buying them online or over the phone as investments, she said.
The Irish were the first to start buying in Budapest, starting in around 2000, but they now look for bigger returns, up to 40%, in countries like Bulgaria. But Budapest is still cheap by western European standards, with prices of €100,000 for a flat which could be let.