The fourth quarter of 2025 brought the weakest residential sales result in Bucharest-Ilfov in nine years and the weakest nationally in six years, according to SVN Romania. Overall, 2025 ended with a 5.3% annual decrease in home sales nationally and an 8.5% decrease in the Bucharest-Ilfov region.
Over 159,500 residential units were sold in Romania in 2025, down from 2024, while over 55,000 units were sold in Bucharest and Ilfov county, according to the National Agency for Cadastre and Land Registration. The weakest months were April, with a 25% annual decrease, and December, with a 24% decrease.
The announcement of VAT increases for home transactions starting August 1, 2025, led to a sales peak in July, when Bucharest-Ilfov registered a 12.6% annual increase, followed by 10.2% growth in August. However, the following months brought declining results: September saw an 8.5% decrease, October and November recorded 22% drops, and December fell 24%.
"The mass market residential market, which relied on transactions with 9% VAT, slowed down strongly starting August. Home sales in the middle market segment are still good, since the VAT increase was marginal. But accessibility for new housing has been hampered in the mass market segment, which will lead to rent increases," stated Andrei Sârbu, CEO of SVN Romania.
Among regional markets, Cluj recorded the best performance with 1.7% growth, while Constanța remained stable. The weakest results were in Iași, down 23.5%, and Brașov, down 13.8%. Timiș remained the main regional market outside Bucharest-Ilfov despite a 6.4% decline
