Skiing in Romania – a review of the real estate market on Prahova Valley
As you might know, Valea Prahovei (Prahova Valley) is one of the best known touristy regions of Romania. The area includes four famous (at least for Romanians) mountain resorts: Sinaia, Busteni, Azuga, Predeal. Further north you can also get to Poiana Brasov.
Sinaia, known also as the Pearl of Carpathians, is not just a ski resort; you can spend a few days visiting a corner of history - the Sinaia Monastery, as well as the Peles and Pelisor Castles. Peles Castle, seen in the picture here, was the summer residence of King Carol I of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen of Romania at the beginning of the twentieth century. Its architect, Wilhelm von Doderer, together with the building engineer Johannes Schulz, helped King Carol I to create the Peles Castle between 1879 and 1883. In comparison, Busteni, Azuga and Predeal are known mainly as ski resorts, focused on providing the best facilities for ski fans, good hotels and restaurants.
The Carpathians are nowhere near as well-known as the Alps for their ski resorts, but Romania is slowly picking up on tourism and is on an ascending curve when it comes to maximising its geographic resources and learning what the tourists want and what it means to provide a good service. That is why the entire area of Prahova Valley is currently investing in its infrastructure, improving connectivity between the ski resorts.
According to the Eurisko Real Estate Company, the investments in this area are steadily increasing as investors are continuously buying land for further real estate developments either for renting or sale. Due to the high demand for properties, the associated prices are continuously going up. Based on the current transactions, it appears that apartments in newly developed projects together with 3-4 bedroom houses are the most wanted properties in these resorts. Further statistics show that the typical one bedroom flat in a new development in one of the above-mentioned ski resorts is likely to cost approximately €30,000. The company also gives the example of a six bedroom villa in Cumpatu, Sinaia with four bathrooms – ideal for lending or sharing between several families - built on a 900sqm plot – all yours for €300,000.
Can you afford to wait until the area will be fully developed? Not really. Five duplex properties, developed last year in Azuga, were all sold in the early stages of development. However, there are still opportunities out there - three blocks of apartments have recently been finalised in Sinaia and another 10 villas and two blocks of flats are planned for this year in Predeal.
The investors are encouraged also by the increasing number and improving quality of the ski slopes in the area. Azuga currently has two ski slopes (Sorica and Olimpica), while the third one is under development. In Busteni, Kalinderu (1,500m long, 40m wide and 37% slope) is the most advanced ski slope, recently upgraded. Finally for those of you who don’t know how to ski, in Predeal you can find ski schools nearby most of the ski slopes.
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Posted: February 15th, 2007 under Travel, Reviews.
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