Budapest rent trends, 2021–2026

The source: the KSH–ingatlan.com rent index

The Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) publishes a monthly rent index with the ingatlan.com portal, calculated from rental listings. It therefore measures asking rents, not the rents written into leases ^[1]. It is published for the country, for Budapest and for five district groups of the capital (Buda hills, other Buda districts, inner Pest, transitional districts, outer Pest) ^[1][9]. A real version, adjusted for inflation, is also published ^[1].

The index base has changed: releases up to 2023 compared with 2015 ^[2], releases in 2026 compare with the 2021 average ^[1]. The annual changes in the table do not depend on this rebasing.

The table shows the December-on-December change, to follow complete years. For 2026 the year is not over: the figure is for September 2026, the latest published at the time of this update.

Year by year

• 2020 (starting point): in December 2020, Budapest asking rents were 14.3% below December 2019, in a market without foreign tourists ^[3].
• 2021: +12.7% year on year in December; the national index had roughly returned to its pre-pandemic level, but Budapest's had not ^[4].
• 2022: +21.9% year on year in December, the strongest rise of the period. Rents had, however, stagnated since the autumn and fell 0.9% in December alone; in mid-January 2023 the average asking rent in Budapest was HUF 200,000 ^[5].
• 2023: +12% year on year in December; rents were then 85% above their 2015 level, but only 16% above it in real terms ^[2].
• 2024: +9.6% year on year in December ^[6].
• 2025: +5.6% year on year in December; in early January 2026 the median asking rent was HUF 260,000 ^[7].
• 2026: in April, the annual rise fell below 5% (4.9%) for the first time since the Covid period ^[8]; it was 4.7% in June ^[1], 5.2% in August and 5.3% in September, with a real rise of 3.7% ^[9]. The median asking rent stayed at HUF 260,000 in early October, the same as a year earlier ^[10].

Covid, tourism and short-term letting

The 2020 drop reflects the halt in tourism: owners of nightly-let flats had to adapt to the absence of foreign visitors, and some of these flats moved onto the long-term rental market ^[3]. The return of demand in 2021–2022 then led to a fast catch-up ^[4][5].

Short-term letting still affects supply. At the end of 2025, a moratorium on new permits pushed investment flats into long-term letting, and a ban on short-term letting was announced in district VI (Terézváros) from 2026 ^[11]. In early September 2026, the median rent fell in VI (from HUF 290,000 to 280,000) and in VIII (from HUF 240,000 to 229,000), two districts where this activity is restricted ^[12].

Inflation, wages and tenants' ability to pay

The large nominal rises of 2022 and 2023 happened during a period of high inflation, and the real index shows that much of them was absorbed by rising prices: at the end of 2023, rents were 85% above their 2015 level in nominal terms but only 16% in real terms ^[2]. In June 2026, the gap to 2021 was 73% nominal and 17% real ^[1].

From late 2022, landlords paid more attention to tenants' ability to pay ^[5]. According to ingatlan.com, rents move mainly with wages ^[6]; in 2026, rents rose more slowly than incomes, which improved affordability for tenants ^[13].

Supply, Otthon Start and the student season

Supply. The stock of flats for rent in Budapest rose sharply: in June 2026 it was 52.3% above its level four years earlier and 2.9% above a year earlier, which slowed rents ^[13]. In 2025, investors moved money from maturing government bonds into housing ^[11], and the MNB recorded a 9% year-on-year rise in the national stock of vacant rental flats at the end of September 2025 ^[14]. The trend reversed in autumn 2026: in early October, Budapest had just over 9,000 listings, 12% fewer than a year earlier, with national supply at a two-year low; fewer investment purchases mean fewer flats offered for rent ^[10].

Otthon Start. This government home-loan programme at 3%, launched in September 2025, moved many tenants into ownership and reduced rental demand ^[11][8].

Students. Demand follows the academic calendar: the rental season starts at the end of July, before the start of the academic year ^[15], and rents often ease in September ^[10]. No public statistic measures student demand separately in Budapest.

By district group in 2026

Rises are not uniform. In September 2026, year on year, the Buda hills showed the largest rise (+7.4%) and inner Pest the smallest (+3.7%) ^[9]. In June 2026, the range was from +5.7% (Buda hills) to +2.9% (outer Pest) ^[1]. Inner Pest districts therefore rose more slowly than the Budapest average (+5.3%) ^[9].

To follow a specific district, compare medians from the same source at comparable dates, as the level varies from one portal to another.

Frequently asked questions