The land market in Romania recorded transactions with a combined value of around €250 million in H1 2023, driven by increasing demand in the retail and residential segments.
Supply remains decent, throughout most of the country, with both large industrial platforms/land plots and medium-sized plots that can accommodate different types of real estate projects, according to a Colliers Romania report.
”For retail, a special note should be made about Bucharest, which is still very much in an uncertain situation with regards to urbanism and legislation. We have quite a lot of transactions that could close provided that certain conditionalities are met regarding construction/zoning permits. On the residential side, many developers still have a significant land bank for potential projects that they could start now, though many want to wait a bit longer to see where the market is going over the short term,” says Sînziana Oprea, Director Land Agency at Colliers Romania.
She adds that ”we are seeing a lot of talk about joint venture deals involving residential projects, as these can be mutually beneficial: developers are happy to split risks in this uncertain period, while landowners feel that they can benefit more from the potential upside assuming a market recovery in 2-3 years.”
Prices have remained more or less unchanged compared to the end of 2022, with owners under no particular pressure to offer discounts and decreasing interest for new deals impacting any potential moves to the upside.
The land market is now experiencing a return to more normal levels after an unusually active period amid the pandemic, 2021 being the best year in the last 15 for the Romanian land market, with transactions exceeding €800 million.
