I personally think that it is a good time to buy - market sentiment has bottomed out. The only way is up from here - which is why I purchased in Budapest last year.
Property in Hungary is undervalued and as commodity prices keep rising building costs will have to go up by about 20% over the next few years. Thus there will be a increased cost in new builds, if they dont sell then the number of apartment being built will fall - thus mopping up current excess supply issues (there is already a big slow down in the construction industry due to tax changes and the austerity measures). Either way property prices will increase between 10 - 15% yr on yr.
Another very important point is the amount of office space being built - a vast amount - Budapest is on a mission to reach the EU average - currently massively behind - but catching up. Even with all this new supply - demand is outstripping supply.
What this means of course is that there is an increased number of international workers all needing somewhere to live. But its not just international workers looking for new build. Its local demand also.
http://www.realdeal.hu/20080424/pri...-with-tenants-despite-growth-in-new-inventory
If the government can follow through with austerity measure and cut the budgetary deficit and perhaps boost the business environment with some targeted tax cuts I think Budapest will be out of the woods (although there is a good chance that tax cuts wont happen
).
I think the picture of district XIII looks particularly bright, since it is one of the most popular districts in which to live and is where most of this new office space is located along Vaci ut.
I just learnt the other day that Westend II shopping centre extension may not happen - another project likely to be cancelled ...... sigh.