May an EU citizen buy? Do I need an address, a bank account, a permit? The legal and practical requirements.
More and more foreign buyers are looking at Hungarian property. The questions are almost always the same.
May an EU citizen buy?
In principle yes. EU citizens may acquire residential property, holiday homes and second residences on essentially the same terms as Hungarian nationals, usually without a special permit.
Warning: agricultural and forestry land is subject to separate rules. Before buying, check how the property is registered in the land registry — not how the listing describes it.
Do I need a Hungarian address?
No. Purchase and residence registration are separate procedures. Staying longer than three months may trigger additional registration duties.
The lawyer's role
They draft or review the contract, verify ownership, mortgages, usufruct, transfer bans, registration of buildings and pre-emption rights, then file the documents with the registry.
The most common mistakes
looking only at the purchase price
paying before the title has been checked
accepting verbal assurances
signing a contract you do not fully understand
underestimating the additional costs
not reconciling the building with the records