Hungary mortgage rates capped at 3% for new homes, October 2026
A Hungarian decree published on 27 October 2026 caps the borrower rate at 3% for a new home and 5% for a used one, on loans of up to HUF 50 million.
The facts
- Government Decree 298/2026 on the Wekerle Plusz home acquisition loan appeared in Magyar Kozlony issue 159, dated 27 October 2026.
- The rate the borrower pays may not exceed 3% a year for a new home and 5% a year for a used one.
- The lender rate is capped at the three-month weighted average auction yield on five-year government bonds plus 0.5 percentage points, with the state covering the gap.
- The loan is capped at HUF 50 million and the term at 25 years, and the borrower must bring at least 10% own funds.
- Eligibility runs from age 18 up to the applicant's 45th birthday.
- The purchase price may be at most HUF 100 million gross for a flat and HUF 150 million gross for a single-dwelling house, farmstead or estate centre, and at most HUF 1.5 million gross per square metre of useful floor area, first indexed on 1 January 2028.
What it means for your money
- Eligible buyers under 45 get a capped 3% rate. Everyone else meets them as competition under the same price caps.
- Demand concentrates in a narrow band, flats up to HUF 100 million and HUF 1.5 million per square metre of useful area, which is exactly the stock a buy-to-let buyer shops in.
- Glopra data puts the Hungarian average at USD 4,049 per square metre with a 4.97% gross rental yield and prices 12.3% higher over the year, so subsidised credit arrives in a market already running hot.
- An owner holding that segment sees the same pressure from the resale side, against a 4% purchase tax and 8% total transaction costs for the next buyer.
What to watch
- The income and social-contribution conditions, which the decree refers to a separate 2017 government decree instead of stating in full.
- The application window: the request must be filed within 180 days of signing the purchase contract, and the lender decides within 30 days for a purchase or 60 days for construction.
- Arrangement and disbursement fees are capped at HUF 30,000 in total, and early repayment costs at 1% of the amount repaid.
Sources: Magyar Kozlony https://magyarkozlony.hu/dokumentumok/41af2e7fb680e524f3030a4dd74c1cdd846ef22e/letoltes