Romania's modern retail stock has reached 4.93 million sqm across 191 projects exceeding 5,000 sqm, including shopping centres, retail parks and commercial galleries, according to an analysis by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. The 18 cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants account for over 80% of this stock, with Warsaw alone holding approximately 1.35 million sqm across 40 projects, representing 27% of the national total. Cities with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants account for only 179,300 sqm, or 3.6% of the country's stock.

Romania's industrial and logistics market continued to expand in the first nine months of 2026, with modern stock reaching 8.17 million sqm by the end of Q3, according to the Romania Industrial Marketbeat Q3 2026 report by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. Deliveries of almost 340,000 sqm over the period represented an increase of more than 60% compared with the same period in 2025. Development activity accelerated through Q3, when developers completed 133,000 sqm, up 54% on Q2 and 15% on Q1.

Flexible office space in Bucharest has reached approximately 73,500 sqm, more than six and a half times the 11,100 sqm recorded in 2015, according to the Bucharest Flex Office Overview 2026 report by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. At least 46 centres operated by 24 companies are now active across the city, with flexible space accounting for around 2.1% of Bucharest's total office stock.

More than 636,000 homes were completed in Romania between 2016 and 2025, equivalent to almost 33 new homes per 1,000 inhabitants, according to an analysis by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. Romania recorded 32.9 completed homes per 1,000 inhabitants over the decade, placing it close to Germany (33.6), Slovakia (34.4) and Czechia (31.5), and ahead of Hungary (18.2), Spain (16.4) and Portugal (15.7). Residential construction intensity was considerably higher in Finland (62.8), Poland (55.2) and France (52.8).

The foreign direct investment (FDI) stock in Romania's real estate transactions sector reached approximately €22.1 billion at the end of 2025, accounting for 16.4% of the country's total FDI stock, up from 16% in 2024, according to data from the National Bank of Romania analysed by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. This makes real estate transactions the second-largest sectoral destination for foreign capital, behind manufacturing, which attracted €35.7 billion and a 26.5% share. The construction sector separately recorded a stock of €1.82 billion after attracting net inflows of €74 million during the year.

Cushman & Wakefield Echinox has promoted Claudia Scarlat to Deputy Head of Valuation and expanded the responsibilities of Bogdan Sergentu, who becomes Head of Valuation, Data & AI Strategy. The appointments strengthen the management structure of the Valuation department and support a new strategic direction focused on data and artificial intelligence across the company.

Romania's four main university cities, Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iași and Timișoara, account for more than 361,000 students, representing 62% of the national total, yet combined public and private student accommodation across the four cities totals only around 80,000 beds. That equates to one bed for every 4.5 students, according to data compiled by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. Of the identified stock, approximately 94% of beds are in public university halls, with the remaining 6% in privately developed student accommodation.

Bucharest is consolidating its position within the Central and Eastern European (CEE) real estate market, combining rental growth across major asset classes with investment yields that remain well above Western European levels, according to the DNA of Real Estate Europe Q2 2026 report published by Cushman & Wakefield. Across Europe in Q2 2026, prime office rents rose 4.5% year-on-year, retail rents increased 3.0%, and logistics rents grew 2.4%, while investors remained selective as yield movements pointed to a more balanced market following the repricing cycle of recent years.

Romania's commercial real estate sector accounts for 54% of loans granted to non-financial companies and recorded a 15% annual increase in financing, according to an analysis by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox based on data from the National Bank of Romania (NBR). At the end of March 2026, credit institutions' exposure to the sector reached RON 116 billion, up 15% year-on-year.

Oana Iliescu, Managing Director at Cushman & Wakefield Echinox, talked to Property Forum about the resilience of Romania’s real estate stock, which remains among the youngest in CEE. She highlighted that despite a complex economic landscape, industrial and capital markets continue to offer investment opportunities for well-positioned assets and long-term investors.