There always were, are and will be favoured parts of the city, favoured streets. These are the locations where even during the biggest property market droughts high-priced flats are snapped up, whether these be used, prestigious middle-class homes or new penthouses built on the top floor of old buildings, says Imréné Kala, the owner of Kala and Partner Property Advisor Kft. Topping the list are the Széchenyi and Belgrád Quays, where the panorama afforded by the Danube-side flats yields steep prices: a spacious, top-level used home with a good orientation could fetch up to 800 thousand or 1 million forints per square metre.
A similar highly favoured dream area is world heritage site Andrássy Road, where square metre prices in the two-level penthouses on the top of the Secessionist buildings are also around 1 million forints, while the price of the luxury homes built in the nearby Avenue Gardens - which has been completed with the reconstruction of an old school building - reaches as high as 1.2 million forints. However, homeowners in this building, which is "seasoned" with restaurants and night clubs, as well as theatres, also buy with their purchase various accessories of eastern luxury provided on-site, such as an exclusive wellness centre, complete with indoor swimming pool, jacuzzi, fitness centre and saunas, as well as a Japanese garden and a 24-hour reception desk and security services.
Genuine dream areas in Pest also include the prestigious top-level homes of old buildings on Szabadság Square and Szent István Park, as well as the new homes being built on Vörösmarty Square, such as in the Palazzo Dorottya, and on the site of the former ORI headquarters. Those looking for their dream homes here also have to plunge deep into their pockets, as the price of used homes is around 900 thousand - 1 million per square metre, while new homes fetch between 1-1.4 million forints.
Meanwhile, new city quarters are moving up in the rankings as well, among them the Millennium City Centre and the Castrum buildings, where flats are popular and steep-priced partly due to their proximity to downtown and good accessibility, and partly because of the Danube riverfront and the panorama of the Buda hills.
The right bank of the Danube also remains popular. Those wishing for traditional luxury can still choose from homes with 1 million forint square-metre prices on Rózsadomb or Szabadság Hill, as well as from similarly priced supply in inner Buda, in Logodi Street, Szeréna Road, or around the Bécsi gate, where several new developments have targeted just this kind of demand. And those wanting the best of the best should buy luxury homes in Budapest's most expensive project, the Excelsior being built on the site of a former state SZOT hotel on Rózsadomb. Here not just the environment and the building housing 70 luxury homes, but also the inner design and the services offered are tailored to meet the wildest dreams, which are also reflected in the prices, starting from 1.65 million forints per square metre.
