Investment transactions worth €336 million were concluded on Romania’s property market in the first semester of 2022, up 13% year-on-year, while for the whole year the sector could generate deals closer to or even higher than €1 billion, according to a report by real estate consultancy Colliers.
The biggest transaction closed in the first half was S Immo AG’s purchase of Portland Trust's EXPO Business Park in northern Bucharest for more than €110 million. Other major deals include Alinso Group’s purchase of METAV Business Park and AYA Properties Fund’s acquisition of Record Park office project from Speedwell for €35 million.
Colliers’ consultants note that while big institutional investors will continue to drive the wider market and generate the bulk of activity, an increasing focus could be seen from add-value investors snapping up assets that require capex in order to become competitive. Going forward, the market will probably see an increase in such deals, particularly amid slowing economic growth and rising interest rates.
“Looking at the activity of investors on the Romanian market in recent years, we observe somewhat of a balance between new investors and recurrent investors in terms of transactions executed. At the present time, investors continue to manifest a healthy interest for local assets and even though some have not yet pulled the trigger on local purchases, Romania remains on their radar,” says Robert Miklo, Director Investment Services at Colliers.
Offices accounted for 63% of deal volumes, while retail and industrial projects had shares of 16% and 14%, respectively. The rest was covered by transactions in the hotel industry.
“All in all, 2022 looks to be an exceptional year for the local investment market in terms of overall activity, but the outlook for 2023 is challenging and largely dependent on what happens in global financial markets in the coming quarters,” said Anca Merdescu, Associate Director Investment Services at Colliers.
