As liquidity gradually returns and pricing expectations realign, investors across CEE are reassessing where resilient income and long-term value can still be found. A session at CEE Property Forum 2025, moderated by James Fitzgerald, Director and Head of Industrial Agency at iO Partners, offered deep insights into how market dynamics have shifted over the past 18 months and what opportunities lie ahead as investors increasingly seek resilient, high-yielding assets.

Romania is positioning itself as a key retail market in Central and Eastern Europe, with developers shifting focus from large cities to smaller communities, according to a Colliers report. While large cities previously concentrated three quarters of modern retail stock, rising incomes and demand for modern formats are making communities of around 50,000 inhabitants attractive for new investment, with retail parks driving development.

Foreign direct investments (FDI) in Romania's real estate and construction sector more than tripled between 2014 and 2024, increasing by €15.1 billion to reach €21.6 billion by the end of last year. The sector's share of total FDI stock rose from 10.6% to 17.3%, according to National Bank of Romania (BNR) data analyzed by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Vlad Stanislav, Managing Director Romania at iO Partners, talked to Property Forum about the company’s expansion in the energy and infrastructure line of services and the higher yield environment in Romania’s property sector compared to other markets in CEE.

Equity strong private investors have become active due to the most attractive yields seen in years, although the overall investment volumes have continued to fall in Q2 2023, while hotels remain a strong asset, according to a report of Arnold Investments. 

Christopher Mertlitz, Managing Director, Head of European Investments at W. P. Carey, talked to Property Forum about the environment for property transactions in 2023 and the company’s focus on mission-critical projects in its portfolio.

Romania's real estate investment volume amounted to approx. €395 million in the first six months of 2020, a value 17% higher than the same period of the previous year, according to CBRE. Office buildings were the properties most sought after by investors, accounting for 88% of the volume traded and other similar projects are available for sale, totaling over €350 million.

According to Savills, the average spread between prime industrial and prime shopping centre yields across mainland Europe has converged for the first time in its historic series as demand for logistics and soars as a result of increased levels in e-commerce.