The next big thing for Serbia: the Belgrade Metro

Posted on by efalucskai

Written by Dejan Krajinović, Beobuild Core d.o.o., EECFA Serbia

The construction of the Belgrade Metro stands as the largest single civil engineering project on the horizon and is one of the primary drivers of future economic growth in the coming years in Serbia. For decades, public transport in Belgrade relied solely on buses, trams, and the city railway (BG Voz). Consequently, the development of a comprehensive underground system is expected to have a transformative effect on commuting patterns and travel times. It is worth noting that Belgrade remains the largest city in Europe without a functional underground metro. While the project faced delays for many years, its commencement is now certain, with preparatory works already well underway.

Two massive Belgrade metro Tunnel Boring Machines ready to be shipped from China. Photo by Beogradski metro i voz

Strategic infrastructure: impact of the Belgrade metro project

The project represents a large-scale international collaboration between China and France. The Chinese construction giant PowerChina is tasked with tunnel boring, while the renowned French company Alstom will provide the rolling stock and system management. Recent reports from China confirm that massive, custom-made Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) for the Belgrade Metro are ready, having undergone factory testing, and are set to be shipped to Serbia this June. Two TBMs have been constructed for the first phase of the project, specifically for Line 1. These machines will start boring from opposite ends of the line to meet halfway – a strategy that will make the construction process highly efficient and significantly faster, though it demands exceptional coordination and project management.

Line 1 of the Belgrade Metro is divided into two phases: Phase 1 spans 15km and includes 15 stations, while Phase 2 is a planned extension of an additional 6km and 5 stations. The majority of Phase 1 will be underground, with 11km consisting of deep tunnels and 2km constructed using the cut-and-cover method; only 2.1km of the line will be above ground. The city’s topography presents a significant challenge as some stations will be remarkably deep and complex, reaching up to 40m below ground level. The system will utilize driverless, autonomous vehicles and digital signaling, ensuring maximum efficiency, safety, and frequency.

The original plan envisioned the construction of Line 2 (21km with 23 stations) beginning two years after Line 1, allowing the two projects to partially overlap. However, at this stage, it is uncertain whether parallel realization will proceed as planned. The pace of other phases will depend on the progress of Phase 1 of Line 1, but financial considerations will remain the major factor affecting the speed of future development.

Nevertheless, with the start of Line 1, Belgrade has embarked on a long and ambitious journey that will define the city’s construction landscape for years to come. Estimates suggest that Line 1 could cost between EUR 3.5 and EUR 3.8 billion,meaning the project’s scale will have a tremendous impact on civil engineering output from 2027 onwards. This is a key infrastructure development aimed at boosting growth against recessionary trends in the EU and an unstable global economic environment. On the other hand, the looming dangers of energy shocks, high inflation, and global financial instability remain significant risks—not only for this project but for Serbia’s entire construction industry and the economy as a whole.

Serbian construction market forecast is available in the EECFA Forecast Report Serbia. For sample report or orders, contact us.

EBI Hungary – megkezdett kivitelezési munkák – 2026. április 9.-i állapot

Posted on by janosgaspar

A társasházi lakásépítés első negyedéves Aktivitás-Kezdése most már egész szépen néz ki. Ezt leginkább a budapesti Kincsem utolsó ütemein és a Láng negyed első ütemein megkezdett kivitelezési munkák magyarázzák. A nem-lakás magasépítés Aktivitás-Kezdése viszont továbbra is nagyon gyenge, még mindig nincs pozitív fordulat. A mélyépítés felpattanása nagyrészt a 5. Paksi blokk alapozási munkáinak megkezdésének köszönhető.

A poszter a két nagy építési részpiac Aktivitás-Kezdés indikátorának időszak/időszak változását mutatja, valamint a szegmenseket amelyekben a legnagyobb értékben indultak kivitelezések. Ezt a posztert minden hónapban kitesszük ide a blogunkra. A teljes építési piacot részletesen bemutató EBI Építésaktivitási Adatvizualizációt (összesen 18 szegmens adataival) is havonta frissítjük, és negyedévente az EBI Építésaktivitási Jelentésben is elmondjuk, hogy mit látunk a piacon. Ha érdeklik a részletek akkor a contact oldalon írjon nekünk.

The first quarter Activity-Start of multi-unit residential construction is now looking quite good. This is mainly explained by the construction work started on the last phases of Kincsem in Budapest and the first phases of Láng district also in Budapest. However, non-residential Activity-Start is still very weak, there is still no positive turn. The rebound in civil engineering is largely due to the start of foundation works on the 5th block of the Paks nuclear power plant.

The poster (above) shows the period/period changes of the Activity-Start indicator in the 2 main submarkets and the segments with the largest value of started works. This poster is published every month here in the blog. The EBI Construction Activity Data visualization with the details on the whole construction market (with altogether 18 segments) is also updated monthly and the EBI Construction Activity Report, summarizing what’s happening in the market, is published in each quarter. If your interest in construction markets is deeper, please contact us for the details.

Top trends to track in 2026 in Romanian residential market

Posted on by efalucskai

Written by Dr. Sebastian Sipos-Gug – Ebuild srl, EECFA Romania

Dr. Sebastian Sipos-Gug, EECFA’s Romanian analyst has looked at the trends that are worth monitoring in the residential market in Romania this year. Among them are the construction costs boomerang, the drop in wages and consumption, considerable interest in multi-family buildings, smaller homes and a greater dependence on mortgage loans.

What we saw in 2025

The construction market faced many challenges in the previous year, alongside the entire national economy. While there was a focus on civil engineering, especially when it comes to EU co-funded projects, the rest of the segments lagged behind.

In early 2025, the removal of fiscal facilities for construction employees led to the decline of their net incomes, and an increase in wage-related expenses for companies. Overall, the effect of this measure was an increase in construction costs.

Then came the multiple shocks of the liberalization of energy markets in July, and a VAT increase in August, which pushed inflation upwards significantly, with the CPI reaching 9.88% in September. In a snowball effect, this led to lower real wages and disposable income, which translated into a reduction in private consumption, and, ultimately, means lower demand for residential construction on the short and medium terms.  

The optimism shown in the increased number of permits, and the useful building area in them, compared to 2024, is countered by the decline in the number of completed homes. Thus, while developers might be looking to the future, their actions in the present are lacking, also evidenced by a significant (-21%) annual decline in the value of started construction works in 2025 (source: EBI Construction Activity Report).

What to watch in 2026

Construction costs boomerang. While previously the expectation was that construction costs would gradually decline in 2026, they proved quite resilient to changes in wages, and fuel and construction materials prices remained relatively stable in the past year.  Thus, late 2025 forecasts placed construction costs on a small, descending trend.

The conflict in Iran and its repercussions on oil and gas prices might throw astray these predictions. As of March 2026, oil prices were approaching 2022 levels, and, if they are not reversed rapidly, might have a similar impact on world-wide inflation, energy prices and, eventually, construction costs. A reversal, however, seems rather unlikely at the moment as the damage to energy infrastructure could take years to undo.

To make matters worse, in the past few years home prices grew slower than construction costs, reducing potential profit margins for developers. Added to the decline in real wages, it remains quite unlikely that there will be room for prices to increase alongside construction costs, again similar to 2022, further eating into builders’ financial return potential.

Decline in wages and consumption. Wage growth for 2026 was already forecasted to remain low, underperforming inflation (source NFC – National Forecasting Commission Autumn 2025 Report). Add to that the further shocks now expected from increased energy costs (due to oil and gas prices rising considering the conflict in Iran) and food costs further rising due to increased fertilizer prices, the downwards pressure on real wages is likely to be worse than forecasted, with a slower recovery.

Real wage decline will make it harder to purchase and build new homes, with a negative impact on demand for residential construction. But it could provide a boost to renovation activity, especially when it comes to energy efficiency, as switching homes becomes harder.

High interest in multi-unit residential buildings. Looking at building permits trends for the past decade, single-home buildings have remained relatively stable, while the majority of growth was due to multi-unit buildings. Under price pressure, on the backdrop of restricted wage growth and a contractionary macro-economic outlook, it remains most likely that for the near future we’ll continue to see more interest in the latter. Another connected issue is that of internal mobility, with migration from rural to urban areas in search for education and economic opportunities, increasing demand for denser residential construction.

Smaller homes. While the mean area in permits remained relatively stable between 2017 and 2025, there is a historical precedent in economic downturns leading to smaller homes being built so as to increase accessibility. Since the economic outlook for the year seems to have worsened, this could be the case again in 2026.


Increased reliance on mortgage loans. Despite the highest interest rates seen in a decade, the volume of new mortgage loans increased dramatically in 2024 and 2025. While some of this could be blamed on higher home prices, there remains a major portion that cannot be explained by price or transaction dynamics. Thus, it is quite likely that it reflects a reduced ability to buy homes without applying for a loan. This is also evidenced by the fact that the share of the population currently housed in a dwelling that was purchased with a mortgage loan grew steadily from a low of 0.5% in 2007, to 1.5% in 2024 (source: Eurostat). This could have been further boosted by the expected drop in interest rates as inflation seemed to be heading in the right direction. However, as of March 2026, this seems less likely, as the conflict in Iran would lead to another energy-led inflation event. Nonetheless, with real wages on the decline, mortgage loans will continue to be relied on for boosting home affordability.

Residential, non-residential and civil engineering forecasts up to 2027 can be found in the EECFA Romania Construction Forecast Report. Sample report and orders: https://eecfa.com/

EBI Romania – started construction works – 22 February 2026

Posted on by janosgaspar

There was no construction start indicator in Romania, so we have created an estimation for it.

This poster is a summary of our monthly findings. It shows how the total value of started construction works have changed over the same period last year. Besides, it presents which segments have the biggest start value in the current year. We call this indicator Activity-Start. And they are computed every month for 18 construction segments by aggregating data of construction projects. The projects are from the iBuild database and ELTINGA and Buildecon found the way of creating indicators out of them.

If you need short-term foresight, you will like it.

Brief comment from Janos Gaspar, head of Buildecon:

Building construction Activity-Start was significantly down last year. And neither of its submarkets managed to grow. The drop in multi-unit residential was mild, but it means that recovery (started in early 2024) stopped last year. In non-residential, the drop was harsh, the total value of started works in 2025 fell back to the level experienced in 2023. Civil engineering Activity-Start was also down last year, but it is still at a high level.

Every month this poster will be available here on our blog. If your interest is deeper, we have the EBI data visualization (with indicators for all the 18 segments of the construction market), updated monthly and we have the EBI Construction Activity Report Romania (with data and explanations), published quarterly in English and in Romanian. All these are packed into a yearly subscription. For the specifics, please contact us.

Q4 2025: Weak Construction Activity-Start in Hungary

Posted on by efalucskai

The latest EBI Construction Activity Report has found that although the expansion of M1 motorway caused a considerable surge in the value of started construction projects in Q3 2025, Q4 brought very low Activity-Start. Even at current price, such a low number of construction projects did not start in a quarter in the past 9 years. However, thanks to the high numbers in Q3, annual Activity-Start only slightly sank against 2024. In total, projects worth nearly HUF 2,900 billion entered construction phase in 2025.

EBI Construction Activity Report Hungary analyses the construction industry on a quarterly basis, including the volume of newly started construction works and the value of projects completed in each quarter in aggregate and by segment as well. It is prepared by Eltinga, Buildecon (creation of indicators and development of algorithms for aggregation) and iBuild (project research and project database). To obtain the report, please contact us.

Declining Activity-Start in building construction in Q4 2025

In Q4 2025, Activity-Start in building construction decreased significantly compared to previous quarters. However, due to the higher first quarter value, the full-year decline remained 10% compared to 2024, while the decrease was 8% over 2023.

Overall, construction works started in the segment last year were worth slightly less than HUF 2,000 billion, the lowest level between 2021 and 2025. Due to the significant increase in multi-unit residential construction in 2025 and the few construction starts in non-residential buildings, multi-unit residential construction accounted for almost half of building construction Activity-Start, which has not been the case since the first half of the 2000s.

Non-residential construction was characterized by a decline in Q4, and the value of started construction works was roughly at the same level as in Q2, which was also modest. For the year as a whole, non-residential Activity-Start was around HUF 1,000 billion, the lowest value in the period between 2018 and 2025. It also shows a 37.5% decline compared to 2024 at current price, and a 43% drop over 2023.

The largest non-residential projects entering construction phase in Q4 2025 included the construction of several logistics centres, such as CATL warehouse in Debrecen, Porsche Parts Center logistics-warehouse centre in Budaörs, and Building C of VGP Park Budapest Aerozone. Several hotel projects began, too, including the construction of Mama Shelter Hotel and Ruby Hotel in Budapest, and Danubius Hotel Annabella ***Superior in Balatonfüred.

M1 highway expansion boosting civil engineering Activity-Start in 2025

Following Q3 2025, which registered high Activity-Start due to the expansion of M1 motorway (M0-Concó rest area), Q4 2025 saw a very low value of started civil engineering works in Hungary. Few projects started not only in value, but also in number.

Thanks to the motorway project, annual figures tell a nicer story with projects starting in the value of nearly HUF 1,000 billion in 2025. It did not differ much from 2024, although the figures then were also boosted by the start of one large project, the construction of the Mohács Danube Bridge and related road network. Overall, in 2024-2025, apart from these two large projects, the value of civil engineering projects entering construction phase would have been very moderate. In Q4 2025 not a single project made it to the list of biggest started ones, indicating the reduction in civil engineering in that quarter.

Budapest continues to lead Activity-Start

Budapest had the highest share, 31%, within total Activity-Start in the last four quarters. Central Transdanubia also had a high proportion, more than 27%, primarily due to the M1 highway expansion. Together, more than 40% of works started in Central Hungary, 36.4% were related to Western Transdanubia, while the share of Eastern Hungary was 23%.

Sluggish multi-unit residential developer activity in Q4 2025

Q4 2025 saw another decrease in the value of started multi-unit residential constructions, with the cost value of started works falling below the level of Q2-Q3 2024, the second lowest value in the past two years.

However, 2025 overall was still a record year thanks to the high activity in the first 3 quarters of the year. Works worth nearly HUF 1,000 billion started, exceeding the Activity-Start of the previous year by 60% even at current price. At constant price, it was roughly equivalent to the record holder years of 2017-2018.

2026 may also register strong multi-unit residential construction as last year’s preliminary data shows surge in building permits. Further boost may come from the Otthon Start Program which was launched in September 2025 (subsidy helping first-time homebuyers secure up to HUF 50 million in mortgage financing with a fixed 3% interest rate and a maximum 25-year term) and the Capital Program, which was also started last year. In connection with the former, the construction of several thousand units has been announced in priority projects, and applications for several thousand more may be given green light. Since sales deadlines must also be met in priority projects, their start is expected soon with many construction works beginning this year.

The weaker project start in recent years was also visible in the Activity-Completion indicator in 2025. Multi-unit homes worth a total of HUF 370 billion were completed last year, roughly 8% below the 2024 value.

Regionally, in the past 4 quarters, most multi-unit residential Activity-Start was related to Budapest with 68% of works starting here in 2025. Central Hungary, including the capital city, accounted for 70%. 16% of works started in Western Hungary and 14% in Eastern Hungary.

Moderate wholesale and retail Activity-Start in Q4 2025

The last time an outstanding Activity-Start was registered in wholesale and retail was in 2017 and 2021-2022. In 2017 the start of construction of Etele Plaza contributed with the highest value, while in 2022 two big project starts played a major role in higher numbers (ActiCity Event Center in Veszprém and Phase II of Zenit Corso shopping centre in Zugló).

2025 brought a rather modest Activity-Start in wholesale and retail, works started by a 27% lower value than in 2024. The decline compared to 2023 was also 16%, roughly at the level of 2020, and the shrinkage compared to the peak years (2017 and 2021-2022) was 39-50%. Despite the drop, larger projects began last year, such as OBI DIY store and Drive-in in Kistarcsa and Stop Shop in Salgótarján.

In 2025, a total of HUF 71 billion worth of wholesale and retail properties were completed, the same as in 2024, for example, the shopping court in Táncsics Mihály Street in Komárom, Phase I of Time Out Market in Budapest, Mömax home improvement store in Székesfehérvár, and Spar store and Dera Park shopping park in Szentendre.

Original article: Tünde Tancsics (ELTINGA); English version: Eszter Falucskai (Buildecon)

Slovenia’s housing squeeze no one can measure

Posted on by efalucskai

Written by Dr Aleš Pustovrh – Bogatin, EECFA Slovenia

Slovenia’s housing market is in a curious state. Prices for both new and existing homes keep rising, yet the country still lacks a reliable measure of how far supply trails demand. Official data show steady appreciation across all major cities—Ljubljana most of all—while construction remains hampered by slow permitting, high input costs and a fragmented building industry. Politicians promise a surge in public and affordable housing but estimates of the true shortfall—whether based on household formation, demographics or unmet rental demand—are patchy and inconsistent. The average price per square metre has jumped by roughly 50% since 2021, but the structural imbalance behind this surge is harder to pin down, leaving policymakers to grapple with a problem they can only describe vaguely.

Ljubljana, Slovenia. Photo by Alexander Nadrilyanski on pexels.com

With a general election looming in March 2026, the absence of clear data creates fertile ground for confusion and political spin. The ruling coalition boasts of raising annual public‑housing investment to €100mn, pledging €1bn over the next decade. The public housing fund plans around 2,000 new units in the coming years, with perhaps 1,000 more from other public bodies. Private developers, especially in Ljubljana, are building briskly, too. Given that Slovenia completes about 5,000 homes a year, these additions ought to shift the market—at least in theory.

But the scale of need remains uncertain. In 2021 Slovenia counted 864,300 dwellings for 859,782 households—roughly one per household. Prices, though rising fast, remain below those in some neighbouring countries. The median price of used homes was €3,070 per square metre (nearly €5,000 in Ljubljana), while the average gross monthly wage was €2,500—yielding a price‑to‑income ratio lower than in many EU states. Mortgage credit is widely available and relatively cheap, with interest rates well below 4%. Outstanding housing loans rose from €8.5bn to more than €9bn in 2025, suggesting that many households are managing their residential construction investments without state support.

One of the outgoing government’s flagship measures—a clampdown on short‑term rentals—was meant to push more homes into the long‑term market. It may instead swell the ranks of empty properties: around 19% of dwellings already stand vacant. A straightforward remedy, a property tax to nudge owners to rent out unused homes, was avoided for fear of angering voters in a country where 75% of households own their homes.

The lack of solid data allows politicians to champion measures unlikely to achieve their stated aims, while sidestepping those that might work but would prove unpopular. Election season is rarely conducive to sober policymaking, but the next government will need better data—and the courage to act on it—if it hopes to make any meaningful dent in Slovenia’s housing woes.

More on Slovenia’s housing market and housing forecast up to 2027 can be found in the EECFA Slovenia Construction Forecast Report. Sample report and orders: https://eecfa.com/

Q4 2025 Permit-Completion in EECFA area

Posted on by janosgaspar

The viz was updated on 3 March 2026.
→ Türkiye and Hungary was added so only Q4 Ukraine is missing, it will be published in mid March.

When it comes to permits, Croatia and Serbia are still very stable. Both countries experienced massive expansion between 2014 and 2022 and they have remained close to their peak every since. Croatia has had more than 4 million, while Serbia has had above 7 million permitted m2 for three years. Last year in Slovenia was not soo good, so it remained below the peak reached in 2022. Bulgaria is also below its latest peak, but permit data of the latest 4 quarters depict a growing optimism, particularly in residential. The mild recovery in Romania, led by the residential submarket, stopped at the end of the year. Hungary turned upward mostly because of the residential permits. The non-residential submarket looks weak, but it has stopped falling further lately, at least.

You may use the dropdown in the viz for selecting either the residential or the non-residential submarket, or both.

See the full viz: EECFA Permit-Completion Quarterly – 3 March 2026

In the full visualization, not only permit but completion data can be followed (where available). Just click on the Country-by-country sheet.

Led by the residential submarket, Türkiye bounced back and up. And due to changing accounting method, all permit time series from 2010 have been revised. From Q2 2025 on, permits issued by authorities other than the municipalities are also published by TUIK. So the scope is bigger, the results show the full picture. Click through the below viz for understanding the size and the impact of this revision. Modest optimism prevails in Ukraine, the permitted floor area keeps expanding. Since the beginning of this year the residential submarket drives this growth. Russia is stable when it comes to completion of buildings. The year-end was strong on both the residential and non-residential submarket.

This visual about the significance of the permit revision in Türkiye was compiled back in September 2025.

Rusty

Posted on by janosgaspar

With the latest governmental decision, the number of projects in designated rust belt action areas reached 81 in Hungary. 46 thousand dwellings1 are estimated to be built on these brownfield sites. The sole purpose of this post is to follow these projects and to see how they will or will not help the recovery of the new residential construction sub-market in Hungary.

Status on 28 January 2026.
The upswing has not been too intensive lately, but many XXL projects have moved closer to under construction status.
—
Completed: 3 620 dwellings
Under construction: 10 484 dwellings
Before construction: 26 149 dwellings

Brief background

Rust belt action areas (let me shorten them to rusty) are practically brownfield areas with special benefits. The owner of the site or the developer should initiate the process (with specific development plans) and there is a Committee to examine if the proposed site is entitled for the rusty status. Based on the opinion of the Committee, the final decision is made by the government. The decisions (about the exact sites) are announced in a decree and the special benefits coming with it are:

  • priority investment status, meaning e.g. faster permitting procedures2,
  • newly built homes can be sold at 5% VAT without limitation in time3,
  • this 5% can be reclaimed by the buyers4.

By the current regulations, it means a min. 5% and a max. 27% price advantage over competitors developing on non-rusty area until 2030 (depending on when the permit was obtained) and a 27% price advantage from 2031 on.

Our focus

What we do is to turn the mentioned decree into information we need for forecasting. With the help of Eltinga Building Permit Monitor database and the iBuild project information database, actual projects are identified from the lot numbers specified in the decree. Among all the general project specifics, the number of dwellings (where it is known), are attached to these projects.

The map shows the stages of the housing projects that were given rusty status. Bluish dots are those before construction, neon yellow dots are those under construction and the dot disappears once the project is completed.

OK, it is very convenient to see projects on a map, but our focus is more on the chart under the map where the yellow is the number of homes under construction.

What we are curious about is if and when the right end of the yellow curve shows a strong upturn.

In other words, we are curious whether the regulation ignites a recovery or not. In the first years of the regulation, it was more common that the yellow line has increased because projects having started in the past were given the rusty status. (So they were just re-qualified, it did not mean new project starts.) In parallel, it was less common that projects start after they were given the status. Just two extreme examples for these: Unipark Buda had been under construction between 2019 and 2024 and it got the rusty status at the end of 2023, while Láng quarter was given the rusty status in 2021 and it is still before construction. This has changed by now. So currently the yellow line increases if new projects starts. More precisely if the number of dwellings in newly started projects outnumbers the number of dwellings in completed projects.

The charts are updated quarterly.

Another way we like to look at it is a list. Here we do not separate the projects to phases (like on the map) and it gives a quick understanding on how each rusty project moves ahead from 1 February 2024 on.

Data sources

The data mostly come from Eltinga Building Permit Monitor (in Hungarian: Építési Engedély Figyelő). This is a very detailed database on before construction multi-unit housing projects in Budapest. It is aiming primarily at developers who would like to understand the competition. For further information on this, please turn to Mr Zoltán Sápi, Eltinga, sapiz@eltinga.hu. Besides, we use the iBuild project information database.

  1. This is an estimation based on the median size of those rusty projects where the number of homes were announced ↩︎
  2. 619/2021. (XI. 8.) Korm. rendelet
    a rozsdaövezeti akcióterületek kijelöléséről és egyes akcióterületeken megvalósuló beruházásokra irányadó sajátos követelményekről     ↩︎
  3. 2021/8. Adózási kérdés – A rozsdaövezeti lakások értékesítésének adómértéke ↩︎
  4. Rozsdaövezeti adó-visszatérítési támogatás ↩︎

EECFA 2025 Winter Construction Forecast

Posted on by efalucskai

EECFA released its 2025 Winter construction forecast on 12 December. Check out a sample report and place your order on eecfa.com. For discount, please contact us.

Southeast European construction markets

“Bulgaria’s total construction output is forecasted to increase by 3% on average for 2026-2027” – says Yasen Georgiev at Economic Policy Institute (EPI), EECFA’s Bulgarian research institute. He adds that this is to follow estimates for a similar performance of almost 3% in 2025. The sectoral background, however, shows, a nuanced picture – cooling of residential construction, positive news from non-residential and a robust performance of civil engineering. The latter will benefit from investments which will be backed by the absorption of EU funds through the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) and classical operational programmes, both with implementation deadlines in 2026 and 2027. At the same time, Bulgaria’s economy is to expand by 2.4% on average in 2026-2027 – a period continuously shaped also by the Euro adoption on 1 January 2026.

Michael Glazer (SEE Regional Advisors) and Tatjana Halapija (Nada Projekt), EECFA’s Croatian members, think that declining dwelling sales in Croatia have, paradoxically, failed to stop the growth in the value of Croatian residential output, because increases in the price per square meter of those dwellings that do get sold have more than compensated for the lower number of square meters bought. “But how long this can continue is unclear” – they add. “The policies that the Croatian government is implementing in order to ease the country’s housing crisis are confusing the residential picture still more, since a number of those policies have contradictory effects on output. As to non-residential building construction, output growth during the period covered by the current forecast will depend greatly on the sector, with some likely to continue to benefit from catch-up growth and EU support for a bit longer and others moving toward a steady state or even a decline. In civil engineering, EU funds continue to play the dominant role in financing construction of all sorts. Sports facility construction is experiencing a boom, but given the speed with which such projects are completed, the effect on output will be relatively brief. Renewable energy construction should be growing rapidly, but regulators’ hostility toward the sector are holding it back.”

“Romania’s economy is entering a challenging period as the recently implemented measures to reduce the national account deficit begin to take effect” – reports Dr. Sebastian Sipos-Gug, EECFA’s Romanian researcher at Ebuild. “While most forecasters do not anticipate a recession, economic growth is expected to remain subdued over the next two years. Inflation is the highest in the EU, boosted in 2025 by increases in sales taxes. As a result, consumer prices are rising at a pace that is forecasted to outstrip wage growth, leading to a decline in real incomes in both 2025 and 2026. Government spending is also facing cuts, thus both private and public consumption are predicted to decline, with a chilling effect on most construction activity types. There is also the challenge of the massive level of public investment required by civil engineering projects that have started since 2023, which will be difficult to sustain under the austerity and the mounting pressure of losing even more EU funding. On the brighter side, both the economy at large and the labour market are expected to be quite resilient. By 2027, assuming the deficit reaches manageable levels, the effects of contractionary policies should fade out, inflation could ease, and interest rates could come down. This means that demand for construction would rebound and with it, construction activity.”

Dejan Krajinović, EECFA’s Serbian researcher (Beobuild) says that “Serbia’s overall construction output sank into a negative territory in 2025, primarily owing to the weaker performance in civil engineering. This year recorded growth in building construction, but the substantial consolidation in civil engineering dragged totals in red. The completion of major road, railway and energy projects contributed mostly, but delayed construction starts played a role as well. Residential construction is stable and is on historical levels, while non-residential construction is booming led by the hosting of the EXPO 2027 in Belgrade. Investments into commercial, hotel and office buildings are all spurred by the event, with the purposely built EXPO 2027 complex consisting of numerous venues being the single largest investment in non-residential. Improving financial conditions and sustained demand still support relatively high construction activity, but a lot of global political and economic uncertainties are dimming future prospects.”

Dr. Aleš Pustovrh at Bogatin, EECFA Slovenia, says that Slovenia’s construction sector is holding steady at EUR 6bn, though growth has cooled. Residential buildings remain the anchor, with output expected to show only a slight dip in 2025, helped by strong employment, rising wages and cheaper mortgages. Property transactions rebounded in early 2025, reversing last year’s slump, while prices continue to climb amid land shortages and slow permitting. Public housing programmes are ambitious, but private developers are concentrating on Ljubljana and coastal towns. Non-residential construction is mixed: offices are recovering slowly, retail stays subdued, but industrial and warehousing thrive on export demand and automation while health and education remain at very high levels. Civil engineering and public works lean on EU-backed projects and are anticipated to reach historically high levels by 2026. 

Eastern European construction markets

Andrey Vakulenko at Macon, EECFA’s Russian research institute notes that “the high key rate and the overall economic slowdown are constraining the Russian construction industry with negative trends expected for the current year and over the next two years. An easing of monetary policy, which has already begun, could help normalize the situation, but a positive effect is not expected until 2027. The main drag on construction output will likely be the residential subsector where high rates and revised government demand support principles are reducing activity among both buyers and developers. Negative trends will also likely persist in most non-residential segments due to declining growth rates of budget financing, a general decrease in business activity and a slowdown in consumption. The overall descending dynamics in the construction market may somewhat be mitigated by stable growth in civil engineering driven by export projects in energy and transport, but this growth is not predicted to be enough to keep the construction market in a positive zone”.

Prof. Ali Türel, EECFA’s Turkish researcher, reports that “the major effect of inflation-curb policies in Türkiye is the decline in disposable income and in the purchasing power of wage earners and pensioners. The moderate to lower-income population is unlikely to save enough equity for buying a home when rents have also become unaffordable for many. Ironically, housing sales have been increasing at a much higher rate than the growth of households. This can be attributed to the typical trend in Türkiye, where, during inflation, people expect a higher real return on their financial assets from real estate investments compared to alternative investment options. The reconstruction of earthquake-damaged buildings and infrastructure also contributed to the high rate of growth in building starts and completions from Q2 2025 onward, leading to the highest rates of change in the construction sector’s contribution to GDP compared to other sectors. Our latest forecast indicates that total construction output in Türkiye may reach 6.4 trillion TL in 2027 (EUR 180 billion), all at 2024 prices.”

According to Prof. Sergii Zapototskyi of Uvecon, EECFA Ukraine, despite the war and high risks, Ukraine’s construction industry remains one of the key drivers of economic recovery in 2025. The RDNA4 (the latest Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment Report) estimates Ukraine’s reconstruction needs for the next decade to be USD 486-524 billion, creating long-term demand for residential, non-residential and civil engineering construction works. Major challenges persist, including the uncertainty regarding the duration of the war, especially in frontline regions, labour shortages, bureaucratic barriers in the urban planning legislation, and logistical constraints due to the relocation of production facilities, and often, shortages in building materials. At the same time, the industry is demonstrating resilience: developers are diversifying supply chains, stabilizing procurement schedules, and increasing activity in the Central and Western regions. Demand for housing, intensive infrastructure restoration, and international investment from the EBRD, EIB, and other partners continue to support positive dynamics. The sector’s development prospects for 2026-2027 will largely depend on the security situation and the effectiveness of state recovery programs.

M1 motorway boosting Activity-Start in Hungarian construction

Posted on by efalucskai

The latest EBI Construction Activity Report Hungary has found that it was mainly due to the ongoing M1 motorway expansion that the value of started construction projects rose significantly in the third quarter of this year. The value of projects entering construction in July-September 2025 exceeded HUF 1,000 billion at current price – the second highest level in the past ten years. Without this motorway expansion, accounting for around 60% of Activity-Start, the figures would have been much more modest, though.

EBI Construction Activity Report Hungary analyses the construction industry on a quarterly basis, including the volume of newly started construction works and the value of projects completed in each quarter in aggregate and by segment as well. It is prepared by Eltinga, Buildecon (creation of indicators and development of algorithms for aggregation) and iBuild (project research and project database).

Building Construction Activity-Start

In Q3 2025 the value of started building construction projects was HUF 400 billion, around the same value as between April and June. Thanks to the outstanding figures between January and March, the value of building construction projects entering construction phase exceeded HUF 1,500 billion, only 4 points short of the same period in 2023 and 2024. At constant price, Activity-Start between January and September of this year was the lowest in the past 9 years.

Activity-Start of EBI Construction Activity Report in multi-unit housing construction, although greatly sank, stayed at a high level, with the total value of projects started in Q3 2025 exceeding HUF 170 billion. The situation was the opposite in non-residential construction. The segment recovered somewhat between July and September from the previous quarter’s low point, but projects still entered construction at a low value: Activity-Start was around HUF 230 billion. Since 2017 non-residential construction projects haven’t started at a lower value than in the first 9 months of this year.

The largest non-residential projects entering construction in Q3 2025 included MCC’s talent centre in Miskolc, BYD’s electric bus assembly plant in Komárom, Panattoni Logistics Park Building A in Mosonmagyaróvár, IGPark automotive parts manufacturing hall in Nyíregyháza, Phase 2 of Weerts Ebes logistics centre, and MVM Neuron headquarters office building in the 3rd district of Budapest.

Civil engineering Activity-Start

Civil Engineering Activity-Start of EBI Construction Activity Report registered a surge in Q3 2025 due to M1 motorway expansion (M0-Concó rest area). Outside road construction, the value of construction projects started in other civil engineering segments was moderate. While total Civil Engineering Activity-Start exceeded HUF 760 billion, the value of non-road and railway projects started was only around HUF 50 billion in Q3. In addition to the two phases of M1 motorway expansion, only Phase 7 of the closure of the Gyöngyösoroszi ore mine could make it to the list of the biggest started civil engineering projects.

Budapest on top among regions

In the past four quarters, the highest value of construction projects in Hungary started in Budapest and its share in total Activity-Start was 28%. Central Transdanubia also had a large share of 23%. 39% of projects started in Western Hungary, 38% in Central Hungary, while Eastern Hungary’s share was 23%.

Still high multi-unit housing Activity-Start

Although Q3 2025 was the second consecutive year to see a significant drop in the value of started multi-unit housing construction works, Activity-Start stayed high, far exceeding the average of recent years. At current price, multi-unit housing construction works started at an over HUF 170 billion, the fourth highest value after the first two quarters of 2025 and the last quarter of 2024. Overall, the successful first 9 months of this year brought a huge jump in multi-unit housing Activity-Start at current price, but it was also outstanding at constant price, only surpassed by the same period in 2017 in the last 10 years.

Multi-unit housing construction is likely to remain strong. There was a high number of building permits issued in the first three quarters of this year, meaning plenty of projects to get started. In Q3 2025 permitting was boosted by the preferential loan program dubbed Otthon Start available since September which could continue to have a positive impact on the number of homes under construction.

In Q3 this year, multi-unit homes worth around HUF 80 billion were completed at current price, while in the first 9 months, multi-unit housing Activity-Completion was well over HUF 200 billion, only slightly lower than in the same period in 2023-2024.

Looking at the past 4 quarters, Budapest continued to have a major share in multi-unit constructions entering construction (73%). Central Hungary had a 76%, while Western Hungary and Eastern Hungary had a share of 12% each.

Still weak Activity-Start in industrial buildings and warehouses

Industrial buildings and warehouses thrived between 2022 and 2024 when construction works worth between HUF 700 billion and 1,000 billion started annually. For example, construction started on several BMW plants around Debrecen, on Mercedes-Benz projects in Kecskemét, and on several battery factories. This year has seen a decline so far and the value of projects started during three months in Q2-Q3 2025 has been the lowest since 2021. Overall, in the first 9 months of 2025, Activity-Start in industrial buildings and warehouses was around HUF 400 billion, 37% lower than in the same period of 2024, and 29%-39% lower than the 2022-2023 values. Trends are similar at constant price: the period of 2021-2023 was exceptionally good for industrial buildings and warehouses, while there was a strong decline in 2025. In the last 10 years, Activity-Start at constant price in the first 9 months has not been so low as now.

The biggest projects started between January and September 2025 were CTP’s logistics halls in Biatorbágy and Vecsés, HelloParks’ logistics hall in Fót and BYD’s projects in Szeged and Komárom. Construction of Phase 1 of Halms automotive parts manufacturing plant in Miskolc and Panattoni Logistics Park Building A in Mosonmagyaróvár also started.

Activity-Completion was relatively high in all three quarters of 2025 as several projects that started in 2022-2024 reached completion. The value of projects completed since the beginning of 2025 neared HUF 700 billion. For example, this year saw the completion of CATL warehouse and metalworking plant in Debrecen and its surroundings, two BMW factories, and the hangar complex of the Helicopter Base in Szolnok. And Activity-Completion may also remain high in the last quarter of this year.

Original article: Tünde Tancsics (ELTINGA); English version: Eszter Falucskai (Buildecon)