In Budapest, 6,610 dwellings were taken into use, 6.1% fewer than in 2021. The number of new dwellings increased slightly in towns of county rank (11%), decreased in other towns (-3.9%), and increased by almost a quarter in villages (24%) compared to last year.

In the Pest region, the number of new dwellings taken into use fell by a similar ratio as in the capital: 3,800 new dwellings were handed over, a decrease of 7.8%.

Outside the statistically large region of Central Hungary, the number of new dwellings increased everywhere compared to 2021.

There was an outstanding increase in the Southern Great Plain region (30%), where almost half of the nearly 2,000 new dwellings were put into use in the regional center. The 2,700 new dwellings in the Western Transdanubia region represent a 3.1% increase compared to last year. At the same time, just over 600 dwellings were built in Northern Hungary, which showed a similar rate of growth from a low base. In the other regions of the country, the number of new dwellings ranged between 1,300 and 1,800, representing an increase of around 20% in each region.

The share of dwellings built by natural persons increased from 35% to 39%, while the share built by businesses decreased from 64% to 60% compared to 2021.

Some 49% of the new dwellings put into use in new residential buildings are in detached houses, 39% in multi-story, multi-dwelling buildings, and 9% in residents’ parks.

The average floor area of dwellings put into use increased by 5.4 sqm to 96.1 sqm compared to 2021.

In 2022, the number of construction permits issued exceeded the number of dwellings put to use by 14,462, an increase of 44% compared to the difference in the previous year.

Behind the national increase in the number of construction permits, there are sharply diverging territorial trends, KSH notes. Compared to the previous year, the number of permits increased by almost two and a half times in Budapest but decreased in all other settlement categories: by 5.6% in towns of county rank, by 16% in other towns, and by 11% in villages.

Outside the capital, only one region, Western Transdanubia, saw an increase in the number of dwellings to be built, up 14% on the previous year.

Builders made use of the simple declaration option in 46% of cases. This rate is lowest in Budapest at 11% and highest in villages at 85%.