Slump in housing construction and construction permits
In 2023, 18,647 new dwellings were built, 9.2% fewer than a year earlier. The number of dwellings to be built under construction permits and simple declarations issued was 21,501, 39% fewer than in 2022.
In quarters 1-4 2023:
In Budapest, 6,359 dwellings were put to use, 3.8% fewer than a year earlier. The decline was particularly severe in county seats (–29%), while it was milder in the other towns (–2.0%) and villages (–8.5%).
The number of new dwellings increased by 7.3% in the Pest region and decreased in the other regions compared to 2022. The rate of decrease was highest in Southern Great Plain, at 45%.
Outside the central large region, Győr-Moson-Sopron county continued to have the highest number of dwellings built, but even this was down from a year earlier (–6.4%).
The share of dwellings built by natural persons decreased from 39% to 36%, while those built by enterprises increased from 60% to 64% compared to 2022.
Of dwellings put to use in new residential buildings, 46% were in detached houses, 45% in multi-family buildings and 7.1% in residents’ parks. This represents an increase of 6 percentage points for multi-family buildings and a decrease of 3 percentage points for detached houses compared to a year earlier.
The average floor area of dwellings put into use decreased by 2 m2 to 94 m2 compared to 2022.
Based on building permits and declarations, the construction of 21,501 dwellings was initiated, 39% fewer than in the previous year. Construction sentiment declined most in villages (–43%) and the capital (–41%), with 28% fewer permits issued in county seats and 37% fewer in the other towns.
The number of dwellings to be built decreased in all regions, except Southern Great Plain (–0.1%), which stagnated, compared to the previous year. At county level, there was also a general decline, with only Bács-Kiskun showing a significant increase (11%) and Hajdú-Bihar stagnating (+0.3%).
Builders made use of the simple declaration option in 44% of cases. This rate is 7.0% in Budapest and 89% in villages.
Based on the new building permits issued, a total of 8,732 residential buildings are planned, 37% fewer than in 2022. The planned 6,981 single-family residential buildings represent 80% of all residential buildings to be built.
The number of planned non-residential buildings was 4,013, 16% fewer than a year earlier.
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: | 2023 as a percentage of 2022 | 2022 | 2023 | 2023 as a percentage of 2022 | 2022 | 2023 | |||
| 2022 | 2023 | of which: simple declarations | |||||||
| Budapest | 13 399 | 7 956 | 559 | 59.4 | 6 610 | 6 359 | 96.2 | 154 | 254 |
| County seats | 4 939 | 3 546 | 1 536 | 71.8 | 4 077 | 2 908 | 71.3 | 323 | 208 |
| Other towns | 9 125 | 5 734 | 3 520 | 62.8 | 5 614 | 5 503 | 98.0 | 771 | 675 |
| Villages | 7 539 | 4 265 | 3 804 | 56.6 | 4 239 | 3 877 | 91.5 | 483 | 482 |
| Total | 35 002 | 21 501 | 9 419 | 61.4 | 20 540 | 18 647 | 90.8 | 1 731 | 1 619 |
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.