Flexible workspace operators and investments in amenities are boosting the efforts of companies and developers to accelerate the return of employees to office buildings, although hybrid work arrangements remain in high demand, concluded speakers in the post-pandemic office panel of SEE Property Forum 2022, held in Bucharest.

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. 

Villar Group, a company listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, has under development 100,000 sqm of prime logistics space based on an investment budget of €50 million. 

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. 

Romanian developer Forty Management has sold out the Central District Viitorului 134 residential project, one month before construction completion. The Bucharest-based complex has a gross development value of €12.8 million without VAT. 

The volume of investment in Romania’s commercial property sector reached €330 million in Q3 2022 and €667 million in the first nine months, while in the first three quarters of 2021 the investment market stood at around €550 million, according to Colliers. 

Homes buyers in Romania are increasingly asking for the 15-minute city, while prices of apartments will fall only in specific cases, concluded speakers of the residential market panel during SEE Property Forum 2022, which took place in Bucharest.

Prices of homes in Romania fell by an average of 1.8% in Q3 2022 compared to Q2 2022, although in large regional cities such as Timișoara, Brașov and Iași the prices continued to grow in this period, according to property platform Imobiliare.ro. 

The Environment component in ESG is attracting the largest share of investments made by property players, as sustainable buildings have a better position in the market, concluded speakers in the ESG panel at SEE Property Forum 2022, held in Bucharest.

Romania's industrial market continued to perform impressively in Q3 2022, with gross demand reaching a record high of around 408,700 sqm, from 188,400 sqm in Q2 and 129,000 sqm in the same period of last year, according to real estate consultancy JLL Romania.