The investment transaction market in Romania reached €181 million in H1 2023, down by 43% compared to the same period of last year over rising financing costs. At the same time, the average price per property decreased from €24 million to €11 million, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
In terms of deal volumes, the largest share was held by the industrial & logistics sector (37%), followed by office (32%), retail (21%) and hotels (10%).
During H1, the biggest transaction was CTP’s acquisition of FM Logistics Portfolio for €60 million. The second biggest deal was Vincit Union’s acquisition of One Herastrau Office in Bucharest for €21 million. Then there is Yellow Tree’s purchase of Olympia Tower office building in Bucharest for €15 million.
“If the key market parameters such as rents, occupancy rates, and sales (for shopping centers) remain in positive territory, we expect the transactional activity to resume its growth in the next 6 to 12 months," says Cristi Moga, Head of Capital Markets at Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
The Romanian investment market decline is in line with the global and regional trends, considering that the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) market dropped by nearly 60% in H1 2023 to €2.3 billion.
Across the commercial market, the prime yields continued to move upwards across all segments, very much in line with the trend registered in the entire CEE region. Romania remains an attractive market, as the spread between the local references and the other CEE countries, such as the Czech Republic, Poland or Hungary is relatively high on all market segments, generally in the 100 – 200 basis points’ range.
