The state of the Hungarian residential market in the time of the global economic crisis

• Main Authors: Mihály Tömöri, István Süli-Zakar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Société Royale Belge de Géographie and the Belgian National Committee of Geography 2012-03-01
• Series: Belgeo
• Subjects: residential market; housing; migration; global economic crisis; Hungary
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/belgeo/6289

Housing in Hungary has undergone significant changes since the years of political and economic transition. During the socialist decades the housing sector was controlled by the state, market forces were marginal or non-existent. Thus, one of the biggest changes in housing was the establishment of a western-type residential market after the regime change. The latest worldwide economic crisis has had a dramatic impact on the Hungarian housing market. The turnover of the Hungarian residential market has declined enormously in the past few years. Those families who financed their housing by foreign currency mortgages are facing the hardest situation. The Hungarian forint has significantly weakened against other currencies having resulted in a dramatic increase in foreign currency mortgage payments. First, the paper briefly reviews the literature on housing theories, then it outlines the most important milestones in the development of the Hungarian residential market. The next part of the paper introduces the most problematic issues and areas concerning housing in Hungary, and finally analyzes the effects and consequences of the present economic crisis.