Hungary construction output up 21.9% in August 2026, buildings fall 9.6%
Hungarian construction output rose 21.9% in August 2026, but the gain was civil engineering: output on buildings fell 9.6% and new contracts dropped 55.2%.
The facts
- Construction output was +21.9% higher than in August 2025 and 14.0% higher than in July 2026 on seasonally and working-day adjusted data.
- The gain came from civil engineering: output on other structures rose 102.4% while output on buildings fell 9.6%.
- By sector, other structures construction rose 183.6%, with road and rail building up 142.0% and utility construction up 319.9%; buildings construction fell 4.8% and specialised construction, the largest sector, fell 6.0%.
- New contracts were 55.2% lower than a year earlier, with buildings down 13.8% and other structures down 66.5%.
- The contract stock at the end of August was 11.4% lower than a year earlier, although its buildings component was 5.0% higher.
- Output over January to August 2026 was 0.1% above the same period of 2025; national average apartment asking prices were about 4,049 dollars per square metre in early September 2026, 12.3% higher over twelve months on aggregated listing-portal data.
What it means for your money
- New housing supply is shrinking while prices are not: buildings output is down 9.6% and asking prices up 12.3%.
- Refurbishment should be easier to buy. Specialised construction, the trades that do renovation, fell 6.0%, so there is more spare capacity than a year ago.
- The pipeline points the same way: new contracts are 55.2% down and the buildings part of the contract stock only 5.0% up, so the work booked for coming months is thinner.
What to watch
- The September reading lands on 13 November 2026 and will show whether the buildings line keeps falling.
- The 21.9% headline rests on utility construction rising 319.9% from a low base, which the cumulative figure of 0.1% for January to August puts in proportion.
Sources: Hungarian Central Statistical Office, Construction August 2026 first release, published 13 October 2026 https://www.ksh.hu/gyorstajekoztatok/epi/epi2608.html