A recent report of Global Property Guide shows that the properties prices in Romania continue to grow.
In 2019, the average selling price of apartments in Romania increased by 8.23% (4.02 inflation-adjusted), reaching € 1,341 (USD 1,488) per square meter (sqm). In 2018, the increase was 6.44%, 10.86% in 2017, 10.41% in 2016 and 6.73% in 2015, based on the prices from imobiliare.ro.
In 2020, the construction of residential projects remained constant, but the buyers’ preferences have changed, with an increased interest in properties in non-crowded areas, close to green spaces, forest or in buildings with a small number of apartments.
“During March-June, the demand for houses/ villas have considerably increased, by approximately 120% compared with the same period last year, both for purchases and for rent. Properties with facilities such as yard or spacious terraces, swimming pool, playground are increasingly appreciated”, says Aura Diaconescu, the manager of Nordis Real Estate agency. “We had properties in Pipera, Herastrau, aviatiei or Domenii which were traded in 15-30 de zile, with an average purchase price of of 250,000 -275,000 Euros, and for rent 2000-2500 Euros.”
The customer behaviour was influenced during the pandemic period, but the buying/ renting decisions for houses or villas were not entirely spontaneous, but rather they were the end point of an older search and analysis process. “The trend to live in a house or villa has existed in the past years also and now was the right time to make this decision”, says the manager of Nordis Real Estatee.
So, due to the real estate market maturation and also due to the isolation period imposed by the authorities, the residentiak premium segment become more and more attractive and continues to grow. The residential projects developers will have to adapt and deliver the types of housing that the market demands. Apartaments with larger areas, low height, generous green spaces, parking and complete facilities for a modern lifestyle.
The real estate investments remain at the similar level compared to the same period in 2019, with a total volume of approximately 120 million euros in Q1. A positive scenario places the total volume of investments for 2020 at 750 million euros, while a pessimistic one at around 500 million euros.