Romania’s real estate market remains clogged at the beginning of the year on few transactions

The real estate market in Romania continues to be blocked at the beginning of this year because selling prices are difficult to establish and there are few transactions inked, most of them on the luxury residential segment, according to Mihaela Alexandroiu Broker/Owner Re/Max Bastion.

Once the economic downturn affected Romania, the renting market witnessed a dynamic growth as home owners turned to this alternative, to continue to make money from their properties. The most profitable niche remains renting of offices, as many companies look for cheaper offices to mover the business and cut costs, the agency Re/Max showed.

Rents for offices will keep falling slightly by 5-10 percent in the most wanted areas of Bucharest, the center and the northern part.

Last year, investments in the real estate market stood at 990 million euros, 7.7 percent going to the office niche which saw an abrupt fall over 2007, according to the real estate company DTZ Echinox.

The most active investors in Bucharest last year were British, German and Greek companies, DTZ Echinox said.