Romanian Property News

In spite of being very close to joining the EU, Romania remains one of the best countries for real estate investments. It may currently appear to be less accessible to individual/private investors, as some of the better deals were already targeted by previous investors (see previous articles), but it still remains a country of opportunities:

• The permanent request for residential properties will continue to attract real estate developers. Currently the deficit for residential properties is 600,000 properties and the rate of building is approximately 30,000 properties per year. 
• There are still many regions (outside Bucharest and other main cities) which have not been targeted by major redevelopment projects. A typical example of such areas is the land situated in the close vicinity of towns or next to the ring roads. Apart from Bucharest, where a handful of investors purchased all this land 10-15 years ago for very little, other cities, like Ploiesti or Craiova, are only starting  to pick up on this trend.
• After January 2007, it is estimated that the prices of flats in Bucharest and the big cities will increase by up to 15%.

However, as any other investment, there is always an associated risk. 

• The return of investment rate is slowing down in comparison with the rates recorded a couple of years ago
• It is possible that, in the years to come, the supply and demand will level off.  For example, at the time of joining the EU, Hungary had a surplus of 5,000 properties, which did not sell even today.
• Romania is only one of the two countries to join the EU in January 2007. Bulgaria, the other country, is also likely to attract investment, particularly as tourism took off over the past few years. Also, although far from joining the EU at the moment and still associated with a certain level of unwanted economical uncertainty, Ukraine and Russia have also a lot of potential and continue to attract real estate investors. 

Last posts in Reviews

• Predictions for Romanian house prices in 2008 – slight fluctuations, mostly stagnating
• The house prices crisis – is Romania next?
• Trident pinpoints south of Bucharest for affordable flats
• Rental prices for studio flats in Bucharest – autumn 2007 statistics
• High prices for medium sized land plots in Pipera