When foreigners think of living or investing in Budapest, the vast majority aim for the central districts on the Pest side.
However, there is much more to Budapest than these core districts. Increasingly, some foreigners, particularly European ones, prefer to move to “very Hungarian” neighborhoods where you don’t see any evidence of immigration or multiculturalism.
They are very peaceful, calm and more affordable. It’s the real Hungary.
In this video, Benedek takes me around to some hidden gems in Budapest.
The market in Budapest has evolved
For many years Budapest was a great yield play. We encouraged people to invest there for cash flow. However in the last two years or so, prices have risen a fair amount.
And once you factor in the Airbnb regulations, the attractive yields are no longer easily achievable.
Budapest real estate is now a capital appreciation / preservation and lifestyle play. Relative to most other European capital cities, it still offers very decent value for money.
To a World of Opportunities,
The Wandering Investor.
Services in Hungary:
- A Real Estate Lawyer in Budapest, Hungary
- My favourite buyer’s agent in Budapest, Hungary
- Golden Visa in Hungary through real estate investment
Articles on Hungary:
- Budapest, Hungary Real Estate Market: 2026 Investor Guide for good value for money in Central Europe
- A cheap Plan B in rural Hungary
- Investing in the Stock Market in HUNGARY, good value or value trap?
- Best neighbourhoods and districts to buy Real Estate in Budapest
- Buying historic property in Budapest – full rental yield and ROI calculation
- Hungary Golden Visa – Timeline and Cost vs. other Schengen Residency Programs
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Transcript of “The Lesser-Known Neighborhoods of Budapest for Lifestyle and Investment Real Estate”
LADISLAS MAURICE: Hello everyone, Ladislas Maurice at The Wandering Investor. So there are two Budapests. There are the central districts of Pest and also of Buda that have become very multicultural over the past years, and then there are the outskirts of Budapest and neighbourhoods that are a little farther away that are still very, very Hungarian. And Benedek, you’ve been helping a lot of investors and also lifestyle purchasers buy real estate here in Budapest and you were telling me that’s a request that you’re increasingly receiving.
BENEDEK: Exactly. It’s nice to meet you again. Like you said, I am getting more and more inquiries about the real face of Budapest. People are searching for the areas that the Hungarian people are living within Budapest and that is not possible to find in the Pest central district. The Pest central districts are very cosmopolitan like you said. The outskirts have some really very nice hidden gems where only Hungarian people live virtually. And today we are going to tour a couple of these areas.
LADISLAS MAURICE: So we’ll be looking at five essentially little undiscovered gems for foreigners.
BENEDEK: Yes, exactly.
19th District of Budapest Overview
LADISLAS MAURICE: All right. So tell us about this district here.
BENEDEK: So right now we are in the 19th district, which is normally not a very prestigious part to live in the city, but there is a central part of this district which is a sort of an enchanted little town inside of Budapest, which was originally built as a whole, a planned neighborhood. And it shows because it has a lovely architecture. It has a very nice community and it’s just very sought after in the local community.
LADISLAS MAURICE: As a matter of comparison, if you were to buy some like ugly hole in the Jewish district, it would be as expensive as an apartment in such a building, in a beautiful historical building with a view of the park.
BENEDEK: Exactly.
LADISLAS MAURICE: For people who want lifestyle and who want peace and to be in a very European environment, I I find this very compelling. I took the metro to get from actually the Jewish district to here and it took me approximately 35 minutes.
BENEDEK: Yeah, it’s far enough to not be as busy as the central districts, but it’s very easy to get to and from because the public transportation is well-connected as well here.
LADISLAS MAURICE: So you live your peaceful life here and if you’re ever in need of multiculturalism, you’re 35 minutes away from it. Cool. And now we’re going to go to the next district.
BENEDEK: Yes, which will be the 11th district with a new development of a whole city block.
LADISLAS MAURICE: All right, let’s go.
Development of the 11th District of Budapest
BENEDEK: So we are now in the 11th district, which will be the odd one out of the list because this is not a traditional Hungarian neighborhood, rather it’s a whole new development of a city block that is centered around the technical university is close by. So it was already favored by big tech companies to recruit from the technical university and the students that are staying in this area. But now with the BYD headquarters moving here with over 2000 new white collar jobs, this whole city block will be a completely new option for people who don’t look for the traditional architecture and the beauty of the city, but rather an investment. These buildings behind us and still you can see the cranes as well, they will be catering for the for the new jobs created by the BYD headquarters.
BYD headquarters moving to Hungary
LADISLAS MAURICE: So it’s interesting. So the big Chinese car manufacturer BYD is shifting its European headquarters from the Netherlands to Hungary. They already have a factory here building buses and stuff. They’re building another factory for cars. They have various research centers. They’re investing heavily in Hungary. And when you look at stats in 2023, Hungary received 44% of Chinese FDI going into the European Union, more than going into France and Germany combined. So China is betting really big on Hungary. So from a diversification point of view, I mean it’s quite different. So, you know, some people are looking for this. And you were saying that this area is not only known for its nice manicured promenades and parks and water sports behind, but also is kind of the the tech hub of Budapest.
BENEDEK: Exactly. Yes. Just on the other side of the road that is close to us, there is the so-called InfoPark, which already gives home to a lot of tech company headquarters. And right next to that, there is the biggest technical university that we have and it’s a very prestigious university Europe-wide. So it’s an internationally recognized institution. This is also a very pleasant area to live. There are lot of parks here as you can see right behind us, there are bodies of water around. So it’s a very nice area to live and a very nice area to invest for the workers that will start working here.
LADISLAS MAURICE: And obviously very well connected. And in case you’re wondering what this building is behind, it’s the headquarters of Mol, the largest listed company on the Hungarian Stock Exchange, and that’s the national oil and gas company.
Budapest Children’s Railway
LADISLAS MAURICE: So Benedek, where are we?
BENEDEK: All right, so this is a very special place. We are in the Hungarian children’s railroad, which is the longest railroad in the whole of Europe that is exclusively operated by children. And by children I mean all the kids that are working here are ranging from 10 to 14 years. So this is sort of scouting where they learn how to work together with others, learn about railway systems and such. So it’s a very pleasant and unique and local experience.
LADISLAS MAURICE: And it’s not just like a little play railroad, right?
BENEDEK: No
LADISLAS MAURICE: It actually goes to the proper rail station and all that.
BENEDEK: Yep. It has nine stops and it goes from one place to the other. The whole runtime is over an hour, so it’s a proper railway.
LADISLAS MAURICE: All right. So now we’re going to go buy tickets from the child labor. Hey, how are you? Three tickets, please. And one of the advantages of having real estate in Hungary is that it’s very easy to open bank accounts here in Hungary when you have real estate. So personally I have thanks to my real estate here, I’ve opened many bank accounts in Hungary. They’re very useful to make transfers within Europe and also to cash out crypto. If you want to cash out like five figures in crypto, Hungarian banks won’t have too many questions, especially if you’re a non-resident. So it’s a very nice side benefit to have. So you can see it’s like beautiful little train. We’re in the middle of the park. And uh yeah. These kids, are you the conductors?
TRAIN WORKERS:No. No. We are working inside the train.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Oh, you work inside the train. Okay. Nice. Uh, how many months are you working doing this?
TRAIN WORKERS:Two weeks.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Two weeks? Okay. You’re having fun? Yeah? Awesome. Great. Thank you.
2nd District of Budapest Overview
LADISLAS MAURICE: So, Benedek, can you tell us about the second district? This part of the second district? Because it’s huge.
BENEDEK: This is the outer part of the second district. We also call second per A district. It’s a huge district part, which is very woody, very loosely built in. You will find buildings from the old communist era and you will also find huge villas. You will have a lot of opportunities for finding panoramic views here. It’s the whole atmosphere is a bit calmer and a bit more close to nature than most of the other parts of the city. So this is very sought after by people that are able to afford the price because it’s one of the most expensive parts of the city. Understandably so because it’s just such a nice cozy atmosphere to live in.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Absolutely. When I lived in Budapest myself, I was single, I was younger, I was happy to be on the Pest side. Now if I were to move back to Budapest, seeing that I have a family, I would probably prefer to be on this side of town for sure. And a lot of the international schools are around here as well.
BENEDEK: Not even one. There are three international schools around this area. And I think they are also regarded as the best options. So a lot of expats who are moving here to Budapest from top positions of multinational companies are looking to move here exactly because of the international schools, because their kids can attend one of the best schools in the country.
LADISLAS MAURICE: And now we’re going to go to the district where you grew up, right?
BENEDEK: Exactly. This was a surprise. I didn’t even tell Ladislas beforehand, but I did smuggle my hometown into the list that we are going to check and obviously it’s very close to my heart because that’s where I grew up. I will show you multiple parts, which are all very nice and they are all close to the Danube river.
LADISLAS MAURICE: So you’ll be biased.
BENEDEK: Absolutely. Yes.
Property market dynamics in Budapest
LADISLAS MAURICE: So, Benedek, tell us a little about the market these days.
BENEDEK: Property prices are still increasing at a rapid rate. Approximately 15% of appreciation per year is possible at least compared to the last 10 years. But the rental prices are not able to keep up with this price increase, so the yields are decreasing. The short term rental market is also terrible due to oversaturations, overtaxation, a lot of connecting fees. The cost rate is just too high. The revenues are good, but the profit at the end of the day is not enough. So nowadays the game is to buy and speculate on value appreciation or even it’s sometimes still possible to do a good flip, but that’s just not for yield making purposes. I am seeing more and more people coming to invest with more of a lifestyle choice, which I find perfectly understandable because we have so nice areas to live, so nice lifestyle to live.
Just look at the neighborhood that we are driving right now.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Beautiful and so calm and peaceful.
And with regards to capital appreciation, Hungary has the lowest construction rate on a per capita basis of new housing in all of the European Union, which is an incredible statistic. So it means there just isn’t enough supply coming onto the market, which will inevitably lead to supply problem and therefore impact on pressure on prices. So sure you invest here, you don’t make great yields, but the capital preservation aspect is definitely there. And then there is potential upside as well.
BENEDEK: This used to be a Roman, ancient Roman time military amphitheater, which is not even unique in the area. There are multiple ones of these and we even have a ancient Roman sort of town. It’s a museum now, of course, only the ruins remain, but they’re pretty well preserved.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Very nice. Are there events happening in in those ruins once in a while?
BENEDEK: Uh, in the museum there are sometimes these sort of festivals, but they’re not you shouldn’t imagine like music festivals, but like little fair or something.
Who is buying property in Budapest
LADISLAS MAURICE: So Benedek, you’re a buyer’s agent. What percentage of your clients are investment focused versus lifestyle focused?
BENEDEK: Originally they used to be a much higher percentage of investment, but lately I would say about 50-50. So I am seeing an increasing number of lifestyle choices.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Can you tell us about the the type of people that want lifestyle in Budapest that are moving for this?
BENEDEK: Of course. For one, a lot of people who have Hungarian ancestry wants to come back and reconnect with their homeland. But also foreign people who are tired of the so-called first world countries’ over-liberalization and over-taxation. They are coming here to raise their families or spend their retirement or even just a part of the year. So for example, they look in Budapest for a base to to stay during their couple of months that they spend in Europe and they travel around from here because we have good connections, a lot of cheap flights everywhere in Europe. So these are the most typical types of people who are looking for lifestyle choices.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Yeah. And and especially Hungary does really not tax capital in in any heavy way whatsoever. So if you have money, if you’re relatively well off, and Hungary has a good double tax treaty network as well, you can live here and really not pay that much from a tax point of view. So there’s a golden visa. If you’re European, it’s easy. You can just move here. Um, so it’s a destination that really makes sense for a lot of people.
3rd District of Budapest Overview
BENEDEK: So now we are in the third district, my hometown. I really wanted to show this to Ladislas and everyone. I might be biased, but this is the last natural bank of the Danube in whole of Budapest and for me it is such a good atmosphere. It is close to nature but still close to the city. There are a lot of food shacks here where people can just enjoy a meal. A lot of people walk here, bike here, walk their dogs. A lot of families with little kids come here to play with the Danube and so it’s overall just a very pleasant area to be around.
LADISLAS MAURICE: And there are some nice homes and new developments as well. Can you talk about the bit the real estate there as well?
BENEDEK: Yes, in the immediate neighborhood, we find a lot of old villas. The neighborhood is called Star Hill, translated directly to English, and it’s a very prestigious part of the city. It’s very calm. The streets are wide. There are huge tree lines along the roads. It’s an expensive part of the city. It’s more of a suburban part. So here we will find mostly single family homes or detached or semi-detached houses. But if we go even up north a further bit, we will find new developments where the apartment complexes are not so dense because the zoning regulation doesn’t allow to be built in so densely. So it’s a more pleasant area to live there if you don’t like crowded places. And it’s also a very nicely built out part of the Danube with a completely newly built out playground and park along the dam that is going there.
LADISLAS MAURICE: And beaches as well.
BENEDEK: Yeah, well, beaches is a little bit different than you mean in a traditional sense because this is the Danube and it’s not for swimming as much as for example a seacoast line or anything like that. But sure you can go in just walk a bit with your bare feet in the water and lay on the lay on the on the side and and have a sunbathe or something.
LADISLAS MAURICE: When I used to live here in Budapest, I would cycle here a lot. I would go from I would ride from Budapest and then all the way to Szentendre and then go back through the other side of the the Danube. If you’re a cyclist, Hungary is one of the best destinations for cycling in Europe. The country is flat. It’s beautiful. There are a lot of cycling lanes all over, cycle paths. It’s very bike friendly. It’s one of my favorite activities here in in Hungary.
BENEDEK: And the infrastructure became even better since you lived here, so there are much more bike lanes now.
LADISLAS MAURICE: You make me sound old.
BENEDEK: Well, you know, we are not getting any younger Ladislas.
Benedek’s real estate buyer’s agent services in Budapest
LADISLAS MAURICE: I wrote a whole article on the real estate market here in Budapest. The neighborhoods that are interesting, the neighborhoods you should avoid, some key learning, some things you should know to not make expensive mistakes. There is a link below. And Benedek, can you tell us about your buyer’s agent services? Because it’s a bit different from the usual real estate agent.
BENEDEK: I’m not a real estate agent in its traditional sense because I I am not selling apartments. I’m not selling properties. I’m only representing my clients in the buying in the in the acquisition process. What it means is that I don’t have an inventory that I am selling. I am able to to choose options from the whole open market and I am able to do this because I am getting my commission paid by the buyers. But this allows me to not be limited to a selection that I’m in a contractual relationship with, so I’m just not just pushing options on you that I am able to push on you. Uh I am really trying to find the best option from the whole market. And so this means I’m also able to get access to deals that are normally not available for real estate agents because the seller doesn’t want to get to involve a real estate agent. For example, I just sent out an initial list to one of my clients yesterday and out of the six top choices, three were being advertised by the the owner and they didn’t want to affiliate with any real estate agent. And in these cases I am not limited because I don’t want any money from them so they will not not have a problem with showing us the apartment.
LADISLAS MAURICE: In a market like Hungary, it’s very easy to come as a foreigner and to overpay. A lot of people actually bank on this here in this market. So having an unbiased agent by your side who’s able to access the whole market, not just agencies, but private sellers, because those are usually the more interesting deals is directly from private sellers that say, I don’t want to be represented by an agency. I don’t want to pay any commission. Often those are the better deals. And then thanks to you, people get access to this part of the market as well. And then you can help people negotiate in Hungarian because if you come here you don’t speak Hungarian you trying to negotiate with people directly. It doesn’t quite work.
BENEDEK: Definitely. And big part of my service is that I am not only finding you a deal, I am also pushing through and managing the whole process of the acquisition. So I am able to represent you, negotiate regarding the price in your name, uh trying to reach the best price for you. Uh I am able to to refer you to a lawyer. I am able to manage the the sales and purchase contract on what is usually included if the seller wants to include something that is not okay I can tell them that it’s not okay because as a foreigner you might not be, you know, familiar with what the what the usual procedure here. But I am representing from the first point to the very last and even after the purchase I am helping with the miscellaneous stuff like transferring the utility meters, you know, declaring the purchase to the building management and such, which with you also might not be familiar with if you are not a local.
LADISLAS MAURICE: And you do renovations as well.
BENEDEK: Of course.
LADISLAS MAURICE: That’s actually your one of your your main business right doing renovations.
BENEDEK: Yes. And I also do management. So I’m sort of a one stop shop for property investors.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Thank you. Fantastic. So if you want to get in touch with Benedek, there is a link below in the description. Benedek, always a pleasure.
BENEDEK: Always a pleasure.
LADISLAS MAURICE: Make sure to download my free ebook, 12 mistakes to avoid when investing in international real estate, which you can find on my website link below and feel free to follow me on Instagram at the Wandering Investor. I look forward to hearing from you.
