The current asking prices are close to prices registered at the beginning of 2010, after a significant decline in the first two years of economic recession (especially in 2008).
Housing prices in Romania grew by 5.3% in the fourth quarter of 2018, compared with the same quarter of 2017, and by 0.8% compared with the third quarter of 2018, according to recent data from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. Housing prices, as measured by the House Price Index, rose by 4.2% in both the euro area and the EU in the fourth quarter of 2018 compared with the same quarter of the previous year.
In the large regional centers constantly monitored by Imobiliare.ro and Analize Imobiliare, apartment prices were inclined toward increase, in general, in the first three months of 2019 – even though, just like in the two previous quarters, the growth margins did not exceed the 2% threshold. The city of Constanta is the exception to the rule, as asking prices fell 0.4%, down to EUR1,140 per useful square meter.
For the fourth consecutive quarter, the city of Brasov held the top spot in terms of price increases in Romania’s large cities – both quarterly and annually. Apartment prices in Brasov rose by 2% in the first quarter of 2019 and by 8.3% in the last 12 months, respectively, reaching on average EUR1,100 per useful sqm. The city of Cluj-Napoca ranks second (both quarterly and annually), with the average asking price for an apartment growing by 1.7% in the first three months of 2019 and by 6.4%, respectively, over the last year (up to EUR1,560 per useful sqm). In capital Bucharest, house prices increased by 1.3% in the first quarter of 2019, and by 5.7%, respectively, in the last 12 months, up to EUR1,320 per useful sqm. The next three spots, in terms of housing prices, are held by the cities of Timisoara (+5.1% year-on-year), Constanta (+3.8%) and Iasi (+3.7%).
According to data from the national cadastre agency ANCPI, the number of real estate deals in Romania stood at 116,109 in the first quarter of 2019, 22% fewer than 148,951 deals in the same period in 2018.