CONTEXT:

• The recovery of the commercial real estate market is at an early stage, with a transaction volume in 2025 of approximately 535 million euros, still well below Romania’s five-year annual average (down 30%), according to CBRE data.
• The structure of investments in Romania in 2025 highlighted a more defensive approach by buyers. While in the Czech Republic 9 transactions over 100 million euros were closed, in Romania we had none over 60 million euros, according to IO Partners.
• Romania continues to depend on international capital, which generated 64% of the volume, although at the regional and European level local capital has become dominant. However, Romanian investors were the most important source of capital, generating approximately 30% of the transaction volume in 2025 and accumulating investments of almost 1.8 billion euros in the last 10 years, above the level recorded by South African or Austrian capital in the same period, Colliers data shows.
• In 2025, the market was mainly supported by the retail and office segments. Retail was the most active, generating approximately 38% of the total volume. The office segment generated approximately 31% of the total transaction volume and brought new investors to the forefront of the Romanian market.
• The cost of managing office space recorded an average increase of approximately 17% in 2025 due to high inflation, rising personnel costs and tax changes.
• Demand for industrial and logistics space increased by 51% in 2025, reaching 1.275 million square meters, the second highest level in the modern history of the market, according to Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
• In the coming years, Bucharest is expected to have approximately 10% more hotel rooms, through projects that will add over 1,000 new rooms, some under brands entering the Romanian market for the first time.
• The volume of construction works increased by almost 8% between January and November 2025, compared to the previous year, coming very close to the record of 2023.
• Over 20,500 new houses and apartments could be delivered in Bucharest and the surrounding area in 2026, according to SVN Romania. Reaching this level would be synonymous with an increase of 18.5% compared to the result recorded in 2025, when the Bucharest region saw the second lowest number of homes delivered in the last six years.
• The average sale price for new homes in Bucharest has increased by over 50% in the last 5 years, from 1,480 euros per square meter to 2,273 euros per square meter. At the same time, the average rent rose by 45%, from 8.6 euros per useful square meter per month, to 12.3 euros.
• Mortgage rates increased significantly compared to the average net salary over the past year, with 2026 starting with an increasing rate/salary ratio according to the Ipotecare.ro index, despite the fact that current average mortgage interest rates are lower compared to those recorded a year ago.

DISCUSSION TOPICS:

• The gradual return of investment activity could bring slight decreases in yields, therefore an increase in transaction prices.
• The capacity of Romanian investors to support the recovery of the local real estate market, at a time when international investors remain cautious.
• After the first year without deliveries of office buildings on the local market, developers have taken courage, and now over 200,000 square meters of offices are being built in Bucharest.
• The pressure on office rents continues to increase as the supply of such spaces is increasingly reduced even in the context of modest rental demand.
• A new phenomenon. Families with savings are emerging who, instead of investing in apartments to rent, prefer to buy a store rented by Penny or Lidl, which will bring them some passive income.
• A number of new brands have announced their entry into the local market this year, including Springfield, Normal, BIPA, Lululemon and Mr D.I.Y.
• Large international hotel chains have shown interest in Romania, but the pace of development is slower than it could be, mainly due to the small number of investors and specialized developers active in this niche.
• After a period marked by caution, investors and developers are reappearing in the market, especially for land acquisitions intended for residential, industrial and retail projects.
• The effect of the Nordis law. Developers can no longer sell apartments on paper to finance the acquisition of land. Partnerships with landowners.

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