The expected rush on Hungary’s rental market has yet to fully materialize. Following the announcement of university admission scores, daily phone inquiries about rental properties increased by 6% nationwide, only slightly above last year’s 5.4% rise. By comparison, demand surged by more than 15% during the same period in 2024, according to property portal ingatlan.com.
Quoting László Balogh, chief economic expert at ingatlan.com, the company said this year’s data points to a split rental market. While the start of the rental season has been relatively subdued across the country, several major university cities have experienced stronger demand growth than last year—and in some cases even stronger than in 2024.
This suggests that student demand has not disappeared but has become more concentrated in cities and districts with large universities and a limited supply of affordable rental apartments.
According to Balogh, comparisons with 2024 are particularly relevant because last year’s rental season had already been weaker due to the launch of the Otthon Start housing program.
Regional differences are significant. In Szeged, daily rental inquiries jumped by 66%, while Debrecen saw a 47% increase and Nyíregyháza recorded 30% growth. In Budapest, demand rose by 16% in the 11th district and by nearly 10% in the 9th district.
The biggest relative increase was recorded in Dunaújváros, where daily inquiries soared by 85%, albeit from a very low base.
On the supply side, the market has also reacted more cautiously. Last year, the number of available rental properties nationwide grew by nearly 6% between early July and the week following the admission score announcements. This year, the increase was only 2% during the same period.
Compared with a year ago, renters had 5% fewer properties to choose from in Budapest’s districts and more than 17% fewer in county seats and cities with county rights. The shrinking supply may be linked to declining returns from rental investments.
Balogh also noted that rental prices remained largely unchanged during the first week after the admission results were published.
At the beginning of August, the median monthly rent in Budapest stood at HUF 260,000. Median rents reached HUF 270,000 in the 13th district, HUF 285,000 in the 11th, HUF 240,000 in the 8th, HUF 290,000 in the 6th, and HUF 249,000 in the 7th district. In contrast, median rents were HUF 200,000 in the 19th district and HUF 210,000 in the 21st district.
Among Hungary’s university cities, Debrecen recorded a median monthly rent of HUF 220,000, followed by Szeged at HUF 215,000, Győr and Székesfehérvár at HUF 200,000, Pécs at HUF 183,000, Miskolc at HUF 130,000, and Dunaújváros at HUF 145,000.
(MTI)
