Decreasing housing construction
In the first half of 2023, 7,353 new dwellings were built, 19% less than a year earlier. The number of homes to be built based on issued dwelling construction permits and simple declarations was 10,880, 39% less than in the same period of 2022.
Compared to the first half of 2022:
In Budapest, 2,316 dwellings were put into use, 36% fewer than in the same period of the previous year. In the county seats, 28% fewer dwellings were built and 6.9% fewer in the other cities. Only the villages saw an increase in housing construction, with 9.2% more dwellings put into use. The majority of construction in villages (66%) took place in agglomerations.
Mainly, the number of dwellings built by enterprises fell (24%), while the number of dwellings built by natural persons fell more moderately (5.3%).
Of the dwellings put into use in new residential buildings, 48% were in detached houses, 45% in multi-family buildings and 4.0% in residential complexes.
The share of owner-occupied dwellings was 37%, and the share built for sale was 60%. In this respect, too, there is a noticeable shift in favour of owner-occupied construction.
The average floor area of dwellings put into use increased by 8.6 m2 to 97 m2.
Only two regions did not see a decrease in the number of new dwellings: in the Pest region, the number of new dwellings was about the same and in the Northern Great Plain 27% higher than in the same period of the previous year.
The number of dwellings to be built on the basis of building permits and simple declarations was 10,880, 39% less than in the first half of 2022. 39% of the new dwellings are planned to be built in the capital. Construction sentiment has declined in all settlement categories, with a steep decline down the settlement hierarchy: 17% fewer dwellings are planned in the capital, 38% in the county seats, 47% fewer in other cities and 53% fewer in villages than in the same period last year.
With the exception of Hajdú-Bihar county, where there was a minimal increase, the number of dwellings planned for construction fell in all areas of the country. At the regional level, the biggest decrease was in Southern Transdanubia (58%), including Baranya county, where the number of permits issued fell to just over a quarter.
The decrease in the number of planned dwellings was 32% in Central Hungary and 29% in the Great Plain and North large region.
Based on the new building permits issued, 47% fewer, a total of 4,238 residential buildings are planned to be built. The number of non-residential buildings planned nationally was 2,081, also down from a year earlier. However, among non-residential buildings, the floor area of industrial buildings increased by 42%.
New dwelling construction permits and simple declarations, dwellings put to use and ceased
| Territorial unit | New dwelling construction permits issued (declarations) | Number of dwellings put to use | Number of dwellings ceased to exist | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| number | first half of 2023 as a percentage of first half of 2022 | first half of 2022 | first half of 2023 | first half of 2023 as a percentage of first half of 2022 | first half of 2022 | first half of 2023 | |||
| first half of 2022 | first half of 2023 | of which: simple declarations | |||||||
| Budapest | 5,107 | 4,258 | 292 | 83.4 | 3,621 | 2,316 | 64.0 | 78 | 186 |
| County seats | 2,765 | 1,716 | 805 | 62.1 | 1,564 | 1,126 | 72.0 | 161 | 71 |
| Other towns | 5,193 | 2,743 | 1,742 | 52.8 | 2,493 | 2,322 | 93.1 | 339 | 345 |
| Villages | 4,650 | 2,163 | 1,849 | 46.5 | 1,455 | 1,589 | 109.2 | 206 | 223 |
| Total | 17,715 | 10,880 | 4,688 | 61.4 | 9,133 | 7,353 | 80.5 | 784 | 825 |
Methodological note: in accordance with Government Decree 456/2015. (XII. 29.) statistical data contain construction permits, simple declarations, put to use permits and official certificates concerning the put to use of buildings constructed on the basis of simple declaration.