Romania recorded new real estate investments worth €85 million in the first quarter of 2021, down 42% year-on-year, in line with the lower results of other markets in Central and Eastern Europe, according to a report by Colliers.
Investment flows in the CEE fell almost 48% y/y to around €2 billion in Q1. Poland had the biggest share of investment, roughly 65% of all regional volumes, followed by the Czech Republic and Hungary, with 14% and 11%, respectively. Around €1 billion was invested in the office sector, while industrial and logistics projects got around €560 million. The rest was invested in the retail and hospitality sectors.
“This is well applicable to Romanian market where we have a volume of around €40 million going towards the office segment through Bucharest Financial Plaza and a 2,500 sqm office building in Brașov closed deals, representing around 50% of the total Q1 2021 transaction volume,” says Anca Merdescu, Associate Director Investment Services at Colliers.
The second quarter is already shaping to perform better, with several deals being initiated or finalized. Atenor sold Hermes Business Campus to Adventum for around €140 million, while River Development got €40 million from selling The Light office project to UNIQA. Several industrial assets purchased by CTP and Globalworth totalled €40 million.
Bucharest has some of the highest yields in the region for the office sector (7%), compared to at most 4.25% in Prague, 4.70% in Warsaw or 5.25% in Budapest.
In 2020, real estate investments in Romania totalled around €800 million, while this year the result will be significantly lower. Across the CEE, Colliers consultants estimate that this year’s volumes will accelerate to reach similar levels to 2020, of around €10 billion.
