Hungary, once part of the Austrian Empire and
more recently aligned with the Warsaw Pact,
is now a member of the EU. It has plans to adopt
the euro by 2010.
The country is landlocked and has borders with
Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia,
Austria and Slovenia. Almost three quarters
of the country is a low plain which is surrounded
by the Carpathians, the Alps and the Dinara
mountains. It has only one major city, Budapest,
which attracts an estimated 60 per cent of all
foreign investment.
Formerly a planned economy, the private sector
(which has attracted substantial foreign investment)
now accounts for over 80 per cent of national
output. Hungary’s inflation and unemployment
have both been brought under control and with
the economy expected to benefit from EU membership
continued economic growth is forecast.
Most
property is now in private hands, a trend encourage
by mortgage subsidies. According to the Royal
Institution of Chartered Surveyor’s 2005
European Housing Review a ‘significant
housing boom’ between 2000 and 2003 was
followed by a decline in housing market activity
last year as mortgage subsidies ended and interest
rates rose. House prices remain comparatively
cheap by European standards.
Taxation
of property interests, especially those purchased
via a company, is relatively favourable in Hungary
while letting laws are said to favour landlords.
In the case of apartments, an important part
of the market in Budapest, tenants are expected
to contribute to maintaining common areas and
to renovations.
Hungary
has a land registration system. Buyers of registered
property are assured titled subject to registered
encumbrances and legal restrictions. However,
the registration system came under strain following
liberalisation of the economy, especially after
1990. This led to a backlog in registrations
which quickly escalated to mammoth proportions
and even more substantial delays. Things have
improved more recently but registration can
still take considerably longer than the 30 days
allowed - although ‘marginal notes’
are used to note pending registrations.
Obtaining
a clean title to property is one of the acknowledged
dangers of buying property in Hungary and at
least one law firm advises clients to ‘signing
nothing’ until everything has been checked.
Import
of currency in amounts sufficient to fund purchase
of a house or apartment has to be declared and
restrictions currently apply to export of currency.
Country information - Hungary
Area:
90,000 sq km
Population:
10m
(July 2004 est.)
Principal
cities:
Budapest
Median
age of population:
total:
38.4 years
male: 35.9 years
female: 41.1 years
(2004 est.)
of the market in Budapest, tenants are expected
to contribute to maintaining common areas and
to renovations.
