A very difficult question. But we can’t avoid it. Our room for maneuver depends on the nature of the property, the seller’s living situation and, of course, many other things besides persuasiveness. Fortunately, however, there are reliable statistics that clearly show the current movements and even trends of the real estate market in this direction.
For example, OTP’s real estate salespeople collect and publish data indicating the extent of the deal, so we can draw interesting conclusions. From the data series, it appears that the possibility of bargaining has been narrowing since the fall of 2023. At that time, the difference between the advertised and fixed prices in the contract was 6.8%, so on average the properties were sold 6.8% cheaper than the advertised price.
However, in the period from December to February, there seemed to be a turning point. At that time, there was only an average of 6.3% reduction between the advertised and the real sale price. 0.3% does not seem like a lot, this is the national average, the values vary greatly by settlement type.
While in the smaller Hungarian cities the average bargain value is 7.9% after a small increase, in cities with county rights it is 6.3% with a decreasing trend, and in the capital we have only 3% room for maneuver. And the numbers show a decreasing trend in the capital as well.
What follows from this? Experts draw attention to the fact that trend-like processes are first seen in Budapest, so it is expected that the possibility of bargaining will be narrowed throughout the country. And what does this mean in numbers?
Let’s take a simple example. You can get an apartment in Szeged for HUF 45 million. If we are to believe the statistics, you can negotiate roughly HUF 2,835,000 out of this today. However, if the trend continues and the rates in Budapest will apply in the rural cities as well, then the value of the bargain will soon be only HUF 1,350,000. This way you can lose up to one and a half million forints in a few months.
A consideration, right?