Key players of the Romanian property market are highly optimistic about the future. They expect strong demand to last for several more years and major changes to happen in almost all segments of the market. 50 speakers and more than 200 visitors came together at SEE Property Forum 2017, co-organised by Property Forum and RICS, to analyse the potential of the Romanian real estate market from a global perspective. Here’s our second report from Bucharest.

Paris claimed top spot in Colliers International’s Hotel Investment Attractiveness Index, an analysis of the investment climate of 20 European cities, despite predictions that investors and tourists would lose faith in the city due to political uncertainty and the perceived threat following various national security breaches. Prague was ranked in 10th place in the index, boosted by the low level of development costs and high number of tourist arrivals.

SEE Property Forum 2017, a real estate conference co-organised by Property Forum and RICS, has been held for the third time in Bucharest. 50 speakers and more than 200 visitors came together in the capital to analyse the potential of the Romanian real estate market from a global perspective.

The mindset of end-users is quickly changing in the world of real estate and developers looking to stay in the race need to keep up with current trends. This trivial statement is especially true in the case of a dynamically growing market such as Romania, which has gone through significant changes in recent years. Sorin Visoianu, Country Manager of Operations at Immofinanz told us what he thinks is driving the Romanian commerical property market.

2016 was a strong year for the Romanian commercial property market with a continued boom in the office segment and growing investment volumes. Ilinca Paun, Managing Partner at Colliers International talked us about current trends and expectations for the future.

Owner Strabag has put the five-star JW Marriott Hotel on the market, zf.ro reports. The potential sale is reported to have attracted interest from various foreign and local investors, including the Paval brothers, the owners of DIY retailer Dedeman. The value of the 402-room hotel is estimated to be around €100 million.

According to Christie & Co's recent hotel market snapshot, Bucharest is an emerging market for hotel investments. While the city's hotel market may yet to fully recover from the financial crisis, it has made tremendous progress in recent years, reporting upward trends in key performance indicators and growing investor interest.

Immofinanz rented approx. 80,000 sqm of office space in Bucharest during the abbreviated 2016 financial year. That represents more than 40% of the total standing office portfolio in Romania. These transactions are expected to increase the occupancy rate in the office sector in Romania from roughly 88% to more than 94%. New rentals and expansions accounted for roughly 47,000 sqm or 60% of the rented space, while the remainder represents contract extensions. 

German fashion retailer Peek&Cloppenburg has leased 5,200 sqm in the extension of the AFI Palace Cotroceni shopping mall in Bucharest. Extension work to add 6,800 sqm of GLA to the mall is to be completed in May, bringing the total leasable area up to approximately 90,000 sqm. Peek&Cloppenburg’s new store is set to open this autumn.

Skanska invests €38 million in the first phase of Campus 6, an office complex in Bucharest, Romania. The first phase will offer a total leasable area of about 22,000 square meters on 11 stories above ground and two levels of underground parking.