Lake Balaton - Real estate market collapsed

For decades, Balaton used to be the hottest real estate area in Hungary after Budapest. In fact, property could be even more expensive here than in Budapest. Most families would own a small cottage or, to use the Russian term, "dacha" which they would visit over the weekend and for the summer family vacation.

However, since the "transition to market economy" overseas travel has become a lot more common and herds of Hungarian tourists would go package tours to cheap destinations in Egypt, Tunisia, Mallorca, etc. The same was true for the foreign visitors from the Czechoslovakia and Eastern Germany -- the people form these places now would fly to the same cheap destinations in Egypt, Tunisia, Mallorca, etc.

As a result, Balaton became desolate. Every year we would hear on the radio that "the season" has not yet begun on the Balaton but hopes were high. Then the summer would pass without a major improvement. The days when vacationers had to line up to get a couple of pancakes and a soda were over.

Walking around the lake today shows, at least near Balatonvilágos where I am staying now, that about every forth-fifth property is for sale. I called the real estate to inquire about the conditions and had a hard time explaining which property it was. He was very proud to have "lots and lots of them." The prices were also quite moderate. But with nobody buying and everybody selling, I expect that the prices would go down ever lower over the next year.

Whatever happened to predictions that said that joining the European Community would escalate real estate prices immediately!