Romanian land market remained active in the first half of 2022, maintaining trends seen in the past couple of years which marked the best levels since 2007, reveals Colliers in its market report on the evolution of the real estate market in the first semester of 2022.
Residential developers remain quite actively oriented towards areas just outside of Bucharest, where the land offering is plentiful, prices are smaller and permits are obtained without challenges.
Supply remains adequate, with quite a few companies seeking to sell their assets for brownfield/urban regeneration projects. Also, retail developers’ land purchase intention remains as strong as it was in the recent past, with new project plans particularly outside of Bucharest.
Colliers consultants expect to see large transactions in various parts of the country, less so in Bucharest, as investors turn to other big cities for large scale projects, besides the interest for retail parks in smaller towns.
At the same time, interest for land plots within the boundaries of Bucharest is likely to peter off, meaning that the share of regional cities in total land sales is expected to increase.
Meanwhile, office developers remain a limited presence on the market, but the segment could see a gradual return over the following quarters.
An interesting trend is the arrival of industrial developers in urban settings, notably in Bucharest, likely chasing future in-city logistics projects, sometimes competing with other “traditional” developers for such locations (residential, retail).
Property taxes are set to rise sharply, while VAT legislation is changing to become less supportive for the purchase of residential properties. This should negatively impact the residential sector, currently the biggest demand-side force for land sales.