How much is the estate agency commission in Hungary and what does the mediation contract contain?

Why no percentage can be published as the rule

Hungarian law fixes the transfer duty and the land registry fees but says nothing about the level of the commission. Nor is there an official figure from any statistical or supervisory body. The band commonly repeated in public debate comes exclusively from market participants' own price lists - which is why our duty calculator leaves that field for you to fill in from your own mediation contract rather than pre-filling a market number.

• Read whether the quoted figure is net or gross. Plus VAT at 27% turns 3% into 3.81% and 4% into 5.08%.
• Not every listing states it the same way: some portals' partner listings show gross figures, so the individual contract is the only reliable source.
• The commission is separate from the buyer's costs. On a 60 million forint flat the buyer's own ancillary costs - duty, lawyer, land registry - come to 2,710,600 forint, i.e. 4.5% of the price, regardless of any commission.

The right contract type: közvetítői szerződés, not a plain mandate

Estate mediation is primarily a közvetítői szerződés under Ptk. 6:288-6:292, not a plain megbízási szerződés. The difference is substantive: under Ptk. 6:291 the fee is due as a rule when the mediated contract is concluded, which makes it an obligation of result. The rules of mandate apply only subsidiarily, under Ptk. 6:292. This is precisely the distinction on which commission litigation turns, and citing the mandate rules alone is incomplete.

Exclusivity: what the industry says and what the courts have held

Several trade sites still present it as though, under an exclusive mandate, the commission would be payable even if the owner sells the property themselves. Hungarian case law has treated such a stipulation as unfair and invalid against a consumer - among others BH2014.46, BH2020.181, and the Kúria case Gfv.VI.30.309/2021/6, which applied Ptk. 6:102. § (1). A claim to a fee after the mandate has ended is well founded where the transaction is in causal connection with the agent's activity. This is not legal advice: have your own contract reviewed by a lawyer.

Written form, consumer rights and the public register

• Written form is not a condition of validity - Hungarian contract law starts from freedom of form under Ptk. 6:6. It is nonetheless required by the professional association's code of ethics and is indispensable as evidence, so sign nothing on a handshake.
• A private individual selling their own home is a consumer under Ptk. 8:1. § (1) 3.; a company or a sole trader acting in the course of business is not. That distinction decides which consumer rules apply.
• For a consumer contract there is a 14-day right to terminate under 45/2014. Korm. rendelet 20. §; as this is a service contract the clock runs from conclusion. If performance starts earlier at the consumer's express request, a proportionate fee is due under 26. §, calculated on the VAT-inclusive total, and under 29. § the right is lost once the service has been fully performed.
• The agency also owes an information duty on a durable medium under 45/2014. Korm. rendelet 11. § and 13. §. If it is not met, the withdrawal window extends to twelve months.
• Estate mediation as a business is still a notifiable activity - 1993. évi LXXVIII. tv. 64/A. §. The register is kept by the notary of the county-seat municipality, in Budapest by the Chief Notary of the Capital, and it can be searched publicly and free of charge on the OKNYIR site. Check the agent is listed before you sign.

How 4property helps the agency

Since the fee turns on whether the deal came about through the agency's activity, that activity has to be documented as it happens. In 4property viewings, feedback and follow-ups are logged per property and per client, so the connection between the agency's work and the transaction can be shown rather than recalled. Mandates are held in one register with the agreed commission percentage and the expiry date, and the fee is visible both with and without VAT - which removes the most common argument at invoicing time.