A total of 1,183 non-European Union citizens purchased 1,143 properties in Budapest last year, mostly in downtown areas, daily Népszabadság said. It added that figures are available only about non-EU citizens’ purchases because they are expected to request a licence for buying property in Hungary. The majority of licences were requested by Russian and Chinese citizens in 2014, followed by Ukrainians and Israelis. Vietnamese, Egyptian and US citizens could also be found in large numbers among the applicants. Most popular were flats of 50-60 square metres and in downtown districts, as well as the 10th and 13th districts, the paper said. In 2013, some 1,365 non-EU foreigners bought properties in Hungary, compared with 1,120 in 2011 and 1,186 in 2012.