According to imobiliare.ro, 2012 was the most stable year, in terms of housing prices, since the start of the economic crisis.
The national index computed by www.imobiliare.ro shows the average sale price for new and old apartments countywide fell by 1.3% in 2012, compared to a 4% decline in 2011, which was also a year of relative stability.
Southeastern city of Constanta ranks first in terms of price decreases countrywide, with a 7.6% decline triggering an average sale price of EUR856 per square meter at the end of 2012. In 2012, prices of old apartments in Constanta fell by 7.3% to EUR854 per square meter and prices of new apartments fell by 8.7% to EUR864 per square meter.
Southern town of Ploiesti comes second with a 6.3% decline in housing prices to EUR816 per square meter.
Northwestern city of Cluj-Napoca saw a 5.5% decline to EUR896 per square meter. Old apartment prices fell by 1.4% to EUR966 per square meter, while new apartment prices saw a sharper decline of 8.8% down to EUR825 per square meter.
Capital city Bucharest ranks fourth with EUR1,138 per square meter at the end of last year, 3.5% lower compared to 2011. Prices of old apartments fell by 4.3% to EUR1,046 per square meter and prices of new apartments saw a 7.2% decline down to EUR1,278 per square meter.
In the western city of Timisoara, housing prices decreased by 3.1% for both new and old apartments, down to an average EUR785 per square meter. In northeastern city of Iasi, the average sale price fell by 3% to EUR811 per square meter.
In Brasov, central Romania, housing prices remained constant, with a variation of only 0.2%, reaching EUR857 per square meter. Prices of old apartments went down by 1.3% to EUR844 per square meter, while prices of new apartments rose 3% to EUR923 per square meter.
Launched in January 2000, imobiliare.ro is the main real estate portal in Romania, with more than 38,000 unique visitors daily.