Why do house sellers do CRAZY price increases
 

So I have been looking at Hungarian house prices since 2019 and have many properties of interest bookmarked.

I have seen a strange thing that happens with Hungarian house prices that doesn't happen anywhere else.

So as an example, one property I had bookmarked was 49M huf for a long time, now has suddenly increased to 129M huf.

These double/triple price increases have happened with quite a lot of houses that I have been looking at and it makes no sense.

If the houses did not sell for several years at 49M huf, I can't understand the mentality of changing it to 129M huf

Sure if the currency value is decreasing and you need more money, I can understand seeing a 5-10% increase, but these 100%+ increases on a house that did not sell at the previous price make no sense.

If it was just 1 or 2 houses then I would just ignore it as some strange sellers doing strange things, but I have probably seen this with like 50+ houses now, so it seems to be a trend.

What is going on?

Re: Why do house sellers do CRAZY price increases
 

Probably some truth to it:
https://dailynewshungary.com/hungary...ces-in-the-eu/
https://www.euractiv.com/section/all...rency-weakens/

Re: Why do house sellers do CRAZY price increases
 

Most likely abject greed due to listening to a estate agent who does not have the sellers best interest at heart. There was a property in our village listed for 16 million forints a few years ago that remained for sale for a long time. Recently noticed the same house listed for 27 million forints. I am told the property has be unoccupied for more than 10 years. I know things are increasing in price due to the cost of living going up and the forints downward slide but some sellers let a estate agent who gets a commision based on the price talk them into asking more so they can get a larger commission if they sell the property the problem is it does not sell and the owner waste years attempting to get a buyer because they are unrealistic in their valuation.

Re: Why do house sellers do CRAZY price increases
 

A colleague of mine has recently bought an apartment that in between applying for and finalising the mortgage had gone up in "value" by 5 million HUF...............

When I first came to Hungary the prices were a fraction of what they are now. Me and a friend were looking in 2007-08 as our jobs allowed us to liv anywhere and I really wish I had bought an apartment in Budapest at that time shall I say.......... Can't afford to move back to Budapest either now!!! Even the rents are terrifying to me.

Re: Why do house sellers do CRAZY price increases
 

There are a number of financial guru's predicting a global recession soon. I suspect when the dust settles if this does occur, many sellers will eventually come to realise that the market here in Hungary have collapsed in regards to prices and the prices will be dropped or the sellers will be waiting many years for a sale. In fact I suspect many typical style Hungarian village house type properties prices may half to be nearly halved in most Hungarian locations to make a sale outside of Budapest and Lake Balaton. This is just my personal opinion.

Re: Why do house sellers do CRAZY price increases
 

Comes down to jobs. Budapest is turning into the London of Hungary sucking economic activity from the rest of the country. However, apocryphal again, my employer has been forced to allow more and more home working as a lot of people moved out of Budapest to cheaper areas and will not move back. Not surprising with costs for everything rising fast.

I think the property market is just generally unsustainable. We are selling a tanya though so I hope it stays crazy for just a little bit longer...! But in this area it all Germans and Austrians living and buying.

Re: Why do house sellers do CRAZY price increases
 

Here near the Danube and Esztergom north of Budapest prices are also exploding - but there are still many "ruins" relatively cheap if you can do at least part of the modernization yourself.
We moved here from near the Balaton (at 75 years swimming is no longer that important) and are quite happy with our neighbours, bakery, butcher and stores like LIDL can be reached on foot and Budapest where are young ones live is less than an hour away.
But house prices here are much higher than we had expected.

Re: Why do house sellers do CRAZY price increases
 

Two years ago my parents-in-law property was worth 17.5 Million Forints. A year later 34.9 Million forints. That's almost double. It still hasn't sold and there were only a few viewings in the early days.
It only has one bedroom, the roof is in danger of collapsing according to my brother-in-law. In short it needs knocking down and a new build in it's place. At 17.5 Million I'd say it'd sell quickly but not at 34.9 Million. The total plot size is 2,100 sq.m. Our house a year ago cost 30 Million, 2 bedrooms, 620 sq.m. plot. We've since had new windows fitted and currently a new terrace/verandah being built. Yup, still not finished, probably be another week or two! Quite frustrated about the delays!

I have seen other properties in better condition than parents-in-law property at 30 Million.

Re: Why do house sellers do CRAZY price increases
 

Nick, the key word here is "worth", it clearly isn't worth the asking!

Re: Why do house sellers do CRAZY price increases
 

Should have said For Sale for .......

I think we got a bargain price for ours but then again we were cash buyers and could complete quickly.

Re: Why do house sellers do CRAZY price increases
 

Its ok, I knew what you meant!

Re: Why do house sellers do CRAZY price increases
 

I paid 2 Million HUF for my house with just over half an acre of land some 15 years ago. The house was basically just a shell but with mains water, gas and electricity already in the house. If I were to buy a house in a similar condition plus land today the asking price would be about 6 million HUF. At the moment I'm having all the windows refurbished, the boards under the porch replaced and the outside walls repaired, replastered and repainted. When finished I've been told the house should be valued at around 30 million HUF., not that I've any intention of selling.

Until three years ago most of the houses in the village were empty. Since then many of them have been bought and have or are in the process of being renovated. The new owners are either Hungarian or Slovakian - we're only 25 miles from Kosice which now that the new motorway is open is a half hour drive away. Strangely enough if you are looking for property for sale in this area, it's better to contact an estate agent in Kosice than Miskolc!

Re: Why do house sellers do CRAZY price increases
 

So was I. Took about10 weeks from beginning to end.

Re: Why do house sellers do CRAZY price increases
 

I had to pay three separate "owners". The widow (50%) and two daughters( 25% each). Thought it a shame the widow had to sell but me thinks main reason was the two daughters wanted their share to buy their own house. The widow bought a flat nearby.

Re: Why do house sellers do CRAZY price increases
 

Yes it does. :)

If nothing has changed to the local market and supply of houses, then you need to look at where the buyers are coming from - in your case I would suggest that there is probably an influx of Germans and Austrians looking for "a home in the country" or "to get out of the rat race". We have seen similar price inflation since the covid pandemic started. Where you used to be able to buy a modest to moderate-sized home for the equivalent of €40,000 - €80,000, and a fairly nice home for €150,000 - €180,000, (€ = EUR) prices have increased 2-4 times at the low end, and doubled even at the high end! :blink: And the driving force here in North Carolina and neighboring states appears to be people migrating south from the Washington DC area, New York, and Boston/ New England, where family homes commonly sell in the €400,000 - €1million+ range.