Rise in home prices halted in Q2, says MNB

After peaking shortly before the crisis in late 2007, home prices in Hungary fell in nominal terms until the beginning of 2014, but have risen since then. 

Excluding Budapest, prices in cities dropped 2% from Q1, with the sharpest drop, of 5.8%, registered in cities in the middle of the country. Home prices in villages stagnated in the period.

Nationwide, the q/o/q rise slowed to practically nil - a mere 0.1% - from 4.8% in the first quarter. In Q1, the rise was across the board, and Budapest as usual led the increase with a jump of 9.1%.

In a year-on-year comparison, Q2 home prices overall were up 10.1%. The year-on-year rise slowed from 16.1% in Q3 2015 and from above 14% in the following two quarters.

In Budapest, Q2 home prices were up 25.3% year-on-year, while in cities elsewhere in the country they were up by rates varying between 1.1% (in Southern Transdanubia) and 9.7% (in Central Transdanubia). In villages, they exceeded their levels a year earlier by 3.2%.

In real terms, Q2 home prices were down 1.0% from the first quarter and rose 10.1%, similar to the nominal rise, from the equivalent period of 2015.

The MNB calculates its home price indices using tax office data on stamp duty obligations related to home loan transactions, supplemented by data from the Central Statistical Office (KSH) and from the national regional development information system.