February 10, 2025

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Hungary to Abolish Real Estate Investment Option From Its Golden Visa Program

Hungary to Abolish Real Estate Investment Option From Its Golden Visa Program

Hungary is the next European country to abolish the real estate investment option from its Golden Visa Program, after Portugal.

The decision means that wealthy foreigners will no longer be eligible to invest at least €500,000 in Hungary in exchange for residency in Schengen.News reports.

The new changes were published in the Hungarian Gazette on December 20.

At present, the Golden Visa Program of Hungary, known as the Guest Investor Program of Hungary (GIP), offers two routes to Hungarian residency:

  • Investments of €250,000 in approved real estate funds
  • Donations of at least €1 million to public education and cultural initiatives

Authorities in Hungary launched the Guest Investor Program on July 1, 2024. The new changes came before January 1, 2025, when the real estate investment option would become effective.

Discus Holdings Managing Director Laszlo Kiss told Imi Daily that the new changes have been introduced due to Hungary’s evolving housing market conditions, stressing that Hungary has a housing market strain.

At the same time, Arton Capital President and CEO Armand Arton told Imi Daily that market stability concerns led authorities in Hungary to apply these changes.

Looking at the experience of other European countries who permitted unregulated real estate purchases, there were many cases of defrauding clients.

President and CEO of Arton Capital, Armand Arton

According to him, the fund structure offers enhanced protections.

Allowing only the fund to invest in real estate is a much more regulated way for them to know which sector the fund will be investing in, if it’s residential or commercial.

President and CEO of Arton Capital, Armand Arton

He points to programs in Portugal, Greece, and Spain that reportedly faced challenges as a result of property market speculation, which made housing less affordable for local residents.

Following Portugal’s Pathway

In December 2023, lawmakers in Hungary supported the introduction of the GIP scheme. Hungary launched its Guest Investor Program (GIP) on July 1, 2024, in a bid to attract wealthy foreigners from other countries.

The introduction of the GIP of Hungary came six years after Hungary abolished the Golden Visa Program amid allegations of its involvement in irregular affairs such as corruption and money laundering.

As part of efforts to better manage the housing crisis, authorities in Portugal terminated the real estate investment option from the Golden Visa Program; however, new options for investing in Portugal’s Residency by Investment Program continue to remain effective.

Amid alternatives of removing the real estate investment option from the Golden Visa Program, authorities in Spain recently agreed to terminate the program altogether.

Greece, on the other hand, is attempting to attract wealthy foreign investors through more productive ventures instead of real estate investment options.

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