The characteristics of land market in hungary at the time of eu accession

Hamza, Eszter – Miskó, Krisztina

Keywords: land market, land turnover, land price, land lease, arable land

The survey shows that the landed property market in Hungary is in a state of anticipation. Demand is primarily for outstanding and good quality land of favourable location in certain counties or larger plots of arable and forestry land. Characteristically poorer quality, less accessible land of less favourable location in the neighbourhood of depopulated, cul-de-sac villages is in oversupply. Scattered, wedged properties of small size or of unclear ownership (undivided common land) are difficult to sell. Many of the vendors are older people with subsistence worries or people who obtained the title by compensation but do not wish to get involved in cultivation. Increasingly more buyers are well capitalised farmers, who wish to increase their holdings or to unite their property (by land swap). Another significant group of buyers wish to invest into landed property located in the neighbourhood of larger cities, at popular sites, next to main roads or motorways.

According to our survey in the immediate years before EU accession land and lease prices increased significantly, many fold in relation to quality. Increases in land prices are due to a process of convergence to EU prices intending to take advantage of a projected unified land market. Increases in lease prices are due to apportioning of a projected land based support between owner and lease holder. According to land sale experts (estate or realty agents) the land market will in the 5-10 years liven up resulting in increases in land and lease prices, although the extent of this cannot yet be prognosticated.

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