Hungary posts EUR 500 m trade surplus, exports remain steady December 9th, 2011

Hungary has posted yet anther massive trade surplus of EUR 497.4 million in October, the ksh has reported on Friday. The accumulated balance stood at EUR 5.95 bn at the end of the tenth month. Although the European business cycle is palpably slackening and Germany’s export performance is worsening Hungary’s exports are apparently solid. While growth remains small but at least we have seen stable exports over the past few months. The EUR 497.4 m October surplus comes after a EUR 740.6 m surplus...

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Gas Check Season November 11th, 2011

As you know we are now entering the winter months. Which in Budapest can be relentless, with the cold conditions only easing about mid-March. Every year, not only in Hungary, it is advised by the authorities that those residences with gas heating equipment are checked for functionality and safety. However in Hungary this is obligatory, particulrly due to the amount of old type gas furnaces still being used within properties. Tower is currently carrying out checks on its apartments. At the inspection...

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Lack of 'Saft Havens' Leads Investors to Prime Real Estate in CE Europe - Report November 11th, 2011

Overall property investment volumes in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) amounted to 8.0 billion euros by the end of September 2011, the best month so far this year, and twice as high as last year. This according to a new report by global real estate firm CB Richard Ellis. The report says "The risk of inflation and limited alternative investment opportunities have increased the available money for investment into real estate. Within the CEE, prime real Central European real estate is particularly...

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Record Rental Figures for August / September October 17th, 2011

Good news for landlords. It seems that the rental market is holding up in terms of activity. In August and September Tower managed to rent 130 properties for its landlords, which is up about 10% from last year, and approximately 50% from 2009. Tower's lettings manager Richard Vigh says the success is due to a number of factors. "What we have is a combination of well located properties from our landlords along with our own exhaustive use of all the marketing channels at our disposal. The properties...

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Lifeline to Swiss Franc and Euro Mortgage Holders September 24th, 2011

The Hungarian Parliament has just passed an important measure to help people with a CHF / EUR based loans.According to the new bill people with foreign currency loans such as Swiss franc or Euro can repay the balance of their mortgage on a favaourable fixed exchange rate. The Hungarian Parliament passed the bill with an overwhelming majority wich will enable debtors to pay back credit at the exchange rate of 180 HUF / 1 CHF or 250 HUF / 1 EUR. Currently the HUF is 291 against the Euro, while people...

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Hungary VAT rise on the Horizon September 20th, 2011

Hungary is targeting to improve the 2012 budget balance by 750 billion forint, 200 billion forint more than planned, Economy Minister Gyorgy Matolcsy said. Of the planned savings, 450 billion forint will come from higher revenue, including a value-added tax increase to 27 percent from 25 percent, Matolcsy said at a press conference in Budapest today. The higher VAT rate will yield 150 billion forint in extra revenues, which the government will set aside in a special budget reserve, Matolcsy said....

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