Settlements in Hungary were already popular among people living across the border from Romania due to low real estate prices, but with Romania joining the Schengen area, migration could accelerate even more, the Hungarian publication Vilaggazdasag.hu reports.
A real migration could begin in the villages along the Romanian-Hungarian border, where housing prices are still much lower than on the other side of the border, which could lead many to move to Hungary, reports Krónika Online in a report made on the spot.
On January 1, Romania officially entered the Schengen area, thus the physical barrier between the two countries, namely the road checks at the border, ceased to exist, as Rador wrote.
Béla Tókos-Fejes, a local councilor in Biharkeresztes, a settlement located near the Romanian border bought a house here in the “first wave” in 2005, before Romania joined the EU, and moved from Oradea to this town in Hajdú-Bihar County. According to him, investors were sure since last summer that the border would open this year and started buying properties offered for sale in Biharkeresztes, which has a population of 4,846. And there is a good reason to buy a home here.
The great advantage of the settlement – compared to the surrounding settlements –, located only 17.3 kilometers from Oradea, or about 20 minutes away, is that it has a good infrastructure, there are buses running several times a day between this town and the capital of Bihor County.
Biharkeresztes is home to the so-called “Kádár cubes”, a type of family house with a square plan, with an area of approximately 100 square meters, whose construction period in Hungary extended from the early 1960s to the late 1970s.
Most of these houses are offered for sale. Among the houses offered for sale, some are in an advanced state of decay, which may not even have windows, but following the wave of price increases that has swept the country since the summer, they are already selling for 20–25 million forints (48–60 thousand euros), although in many cases an equally large amount is still needed for renovation. And for a house, which is in relatively good condition and requires minimal renovation, the asking price is 30 million forints (about 72 thousand euros).
Battonya, where houses are bought by Romanians
The Hungarian newspaper from Transylvania reported last year that there is a Hungarian town where every second house is bought by Romanians. In Battonya, there are more and more people who speak Romanian.
The argument for the town’s popularity is the same as in the case of Biharkeresztes. House prices are much lower than across the border, not to mention the costs of utilities, which have skyrocketed in Romania in recent years.
Another important aspect is transportation, with economic centers such as Arad and Timisoara being relatively close, so commuting can be easily solved.
Krónika Online recalled that the purchase of real estate in Battonya by Romanian residents began in the second half of 2006, after it became certain that Romania would become a member of the European Union on January 1, 2007 and crossing the border would be much easier. Compared to the rising real estate prices in Arad, at that time, a house in Battonya could be purchased for 3-5 thousand euros, and for a price twice as high the buyer could get a real villa, if he had money left in his bank account from the price of the apartment in the block of flats sold in Arad. Some moved to Battonya permanently, but continued to commute to Arad (or the surrounding area) to go to work, while for others the property in Battonya is a weekend home, and another category was formed by those who bought several houses, for investment purposes.
Currently, Battonya is home to 800-850 families who moved from Romania, most of whom still commute to Arad for work, real estate agent István Fifa told Krónika Online. According to him, prices currently range from 12,000 euros to 110,000 euros, but overall they have increased by 25 percent “on the Schengen news” and according to his estimates, the increase could reach up to 50 percent by the end of the year. But even so, there are still cheap houses to be found: what costs 15 thousand euros on the Hungarian side is 35 thousand euros five kilometers away, on the Romanian side of the border, in Turnu, Arad County.