Real estate investors and developers active in Romania argue that inflation, the increasing financing costs, the geopolitical situation and also the increasing construction costs are the main macroeconomic factors which may impact the Romanian real estate market, as these factors are expected to put pressure both on demand and on the rental levels. However, despite all the above-mentioned issues, investors remain positive and their expansion plans in Romania are mostly intact, according to the first edition of Cushman & Wakefield Echinox's “Real Estate Investors Sentiment Barometer”.

With a rent level of €53/sqm/month on Calea Victoriei, the main retail street of the city, Bucharest remains in the top 50 cities analyzed worldwide and in position 46 out of 53 in the EMEA ranking, just behind Warsaw, according to a report by real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. 

Income-producing properties are becoming an increasingly appreciated option for Romanian or foreign private investors who have previously been mainly active in the residential sector, according to real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. 

Prime headline rents in Bucharest continued to increase in the third quarter, reaching a monthly level of €19.5 per sqm, compared with €18.5 per sqm at the beginning of the year. However, the capital city remains among the less expensive destinations in Europe in terms of office occupancy costs. 

Demand for logistics and industrial space is close to registering a new record in 2022 as the vacancy rate reached 4.3% at the end of Q3, which is one of the lowest levels in the last decade, according to real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. 

The real estate and construction sector has attracted around €12 billion of foreign direct investments (FDI) in the last ten years, as the share of this economic activity in the overall FDI stock increased to a level of 17.4% at the end of 2021, compared with 9.2% in 2012, according to data from the National Bank of Romania analyzed by real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. 

Residential developers have been the most active in terms of land acquisitions in the past 2.5 years, as they secured land plots which allow the construction of more than 30,000 units in all parts of Bucharest, according to data from real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. 

Companies are now concerned with creating the best conditions to meet the employees’ needs as they resume work in the office buildings, according to data from real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Real estate investments amounting to around €1.2 billion are currently in various stages of negotiation, while over €600 million in investment volumes were completed in the first eight months of this year, according to real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox. 

The total office stock in Bucharest reached 3.3 million sqm at the end of the first semester of 2022, with just one new building (AFI Tech Park – phase 2) spanning 25,000 sqm being completed in the second quarter of this year.