Prices stabilising in Romanian residential sector

Romanian property prices are beginning to stabilise, according to the Residential Property Index from Eurobank Property Services. The Business Review reported that residential real estate values only decreased by 0.8 per cent in 2012 year-on-year - a significant improvement on previous price falls. Some parts of the country even experienced increases, with downtown Bucharest reporting a seven per cent annual average price rise between 2011 and 2012. The area finished the year with a 5.2 per cent price hike in the final quarter.

Bucharest as a whole enjoyed a strong performance last year and residential properties in the rest of the city enjoyed a 0.8 per cent annual rise and a 4.3 per cent increase in Q4, the news portal recounted. Eurobank Property Services claim this is the beginning of a positive upwards trend, which bodes well for the sector and country as a whole.

“At the end of another year of coverage the annual EPS residential price index for Romania clearly delivers a message of price stabilisation, with a national price reduction of only 0.8 per cent for 2012, following reductions of about five per cent for 2010 and 2011," the report stated. "The quarterly index suggests that national market prices fell by 2.2 per cent in the last quarter of 2012, but this may be well attributed to the seasonal fluctuations around a stable trend."

Eurobank Property Services added that while prices continue to fall at the divisional level, this is occurring at a much slower pace. Combined with a trending pattern for growth in urban centres, things are certainly picking up for the Romanian property market. The Erste Group Bank Equity Strategy Q1 2013 report claims that the economy will also be picking up, with the country's fundamentals performing well in 2012. This is in part thanks to the government's consolidation of public finances, ensuring the country is better placed to finance its debts. By the end of 2013, it is expected that the budget deficit will stand at 2.7 per cent, while GDP will grow by 1.1 per cent.
PUBLISHED : 25TH FEBRUARY 2013