Romania’s economy enters 2026 with cautious optimism, as recent fiscal consolidation measures have bolstered international confidence in the country’s economic prospects. The real estate market mirrors this sentiment, with strong occupier fundamentals supporting steady demand, even as investor appetite remains subdued.
In its latest report released and presented today, 12 February 2026, CBRE, the global leader in real estate advisory and services, analyses this year’s outlook for the Romanian market, highlighting the first signs of improvement in the economy and a remarkable resilience of the retail, industrial and office segments. In a European context marked by caution, Romania stands out due to its solid foundation in terms of occupancy and the strengthening of domestic capital.
Capital Markets and Investment Trends
So, according to the CBRE 2026 Romanian Real Estate Market Outlook, transaction activity in Romania remains largely domestically driven. Romanian buyers accounted for approximately 31% of total 2025 volumes, with Q4 alone representing 35% of the year’s transactions. Seller activity has focused on portfolio optimization and strategic exits rather than distress sales. Investment strategies continue to be income-focused, prioritizing cash-flow stability, lease performance, and asset quality. Domestic capital is increasingly acting as a stabilizing force, with institutional investors playing a key role in maintaining market confidence.
Leasing in the logistics sector remained resilient in 2025, exceeding 1 million sq m, with pre-leases accounting for 44% of total take-up as occupiers secure modern, future-ready space. Development activity remained muted, down 49% YoY, keeping vacancy low (3.8% nationally, 3.5% in Bucharest) and supporting stable prime rents with moderate upward pressure.
Infrastructure upgrades and Romania’s anticipated full Schengen accession are expected to strengthen cross-border logistics, creating new nodes along major corridors such as A0 and A7 and supporting multi-country distribution models.
Office demand remains selective and efficiency-driven, favoring well-connected, modern buildings. Fit-out costs remain a key consideration, leading some occupiers to explore non-core submarkets where central availability is limited.
Retail continues to perform well, driven by convenience-led formats and retail parks. Solid operational results and a limited pipeline of institutional-grade product have sustained demand, particularly in high-traffic locations. Land market activity strengthened in 2025, with increased demand from retail and residential developers. Prices were broadly stable but show significant upward pressure for well-located plots, particularly where zoning, permitting certainty, and infrastructure access are favorable.
Bucharest’s student housing market remains structurally undersupplied, with just over 4,000 private beds available for a student population exceeding 180,000. This shortage is driving double-digit rent growth and presents strong opportunities for well-located Purpose-Built Student Accommodation (PBSA) despite a limited development pipeline.
Looking ahead, 2026 is expected to bring greater alignment between capital and occupier markets. Investment volumes are likely to recover gradually, underpinned by stable leasing fundamentals across industrial, retail, and selective office segments. Domestic institutional funds are expected to continue playing a key role in sustaining liquidity and market confidence, while the industrial and logistics sectors remain a cornerstone of robust occupancy and income stability.
Overall, the report underlines that Romania enters 2026 with resilient real estate fundamentals, stable pricing, and clear opportunities for investors willing to adopt income-driven strategies.
Attending the CBRE conference in Bucharest today, Tasos Vezyridis, CBRE Head of Research, UK&I and Continental Europe, highlighted that geopolitical tensions and trade policies are creating uncertainty, leading to slower but positive economic growth in Europe, supported by stabilizing inflation and interest rates.
He emphasized that real estate investment will see a gradual recovery, driven by income-focused strategies, positive sentiment, and supportive lending conditions, though careful market and stock selection is critical.
Residential and logistics remain the most attractive sectors, while offices see selective demand and retail benefits from solid fundamentals despite past disruptions.
Data centers are emerging as winners from AI-driven demand, and AI is expected to reshape space needs and the way people work and live in the longer term. Overall, he stressed that uncertainties persist, but sector fundamentals remain strong, with a recovery guided by income and cautious expansion.
“This uncertainty will lead to slow growth. Why? Because businesses around the globe, they can’t respect the expansion plans. They’re more focused on productivity-related strategies than on pure expansion. And that will lead to slow growth. That is why in CBRE, we see another year of slow growth. Now, the good news is that despite the fact that growth will be slow, it will still be growing. Why? We expect inflation to go down, and that will boost disposable income. We expect interest rates to stabilize. We don’t expect any more customers to leave out of the road, there will be some sort of stabilization.So that will help disposable income, it will help the consumer, and effectively it will sustain growth. So I want to emphasize that one. Yes, slow growth, but still growth,” said Tasos Vezyridis.
Exceptional demand
While investment volume is in a gradual recovery stage, demand from tenants is described as “very strong” in the main sectors:
Industrial & Logistics: In Romania, the industrial and logistics leasing business strengthened in 2025, with the total leasing business exceeding 1.0 million sq. m, generally in line with the historical levels recorded in 2022 and 2023. A notable performance in Q4, of 427,400 sq. m, up by 67% year-on-year, confirms a continued recovery in occupants’ demand, above the increasing volumes seen on other European markets. CBRE Romania’s outlook indicates continued moderate growth in the leasing business, supported by supply-chain optimization, regional distribution, the expansion of e-commerce and the strengthening of distribution networks. Net absorption is expected to remain limited in the short term, as a significant share of transactions reflects relocations and upgrades to higher-quality, more efficient facilities rather than sheer footprint expansion. Romania’s modern industrial supply reached 8.17 million sq. m at the end of 2025. The development pipeline remains moderate, with approximately 464,000 sq. m under construction and scheduled for delivery by the end of 2026, of which Bucharest is expected to capture 64%. Vacancy rates have continued to decline, reaching 3.8% nationwide, 3.5% in Bucharest, and slightly more, namely 4.0%, on the regional markets.
Overall, Romania’s industrial and logistics market is entering 2026 from a position of strength, supported by steady demand on the part of occupants and by a carefully selected development activity.
“We are entering a new era dominated by artificial intelligence and the accelerated development of data centers worldwide, with major implications for energy consumption. The associated ecosystem that is taking shape, from infrastructure and logistics to energy production and distribution, will generate new economic opportunities for Romania’s industrial sector,” stated Răzvan Iorgu, Managing Director, CBRE Romania.
“The real estate market in Romania is entering 2026 with confidence and very strong demand from tenants and occupants. The appetite is there, but transaction values are lower. Looking ahead, 2026 will bring better alignment between the investment market and the occupancy market: investment volumes will gradually recover, while the strong leasing foundations will continue to support income stability,” said Laura Dumea-Bencze, Head of Research & Director Investment Properties, CBRE Romania.
Retail: After several years of strong expansion, the retail market in Romania continued to perform well in 2025, against a backdrop of more restrictive fiscal conditions and slower growth in consumer spending. The market remained active in terms of development and occupant demand, supported by the density of retail spaces in Romania, which is still below average compared to most European competitors. With a supply of modern retail spaces nearing 4.77 million sq. m, Romania underlines the structural growth potential that continues to support the interest of developers and retailers. Shopping centers once again accounted for the majority of new deliveries in 2025, representing around two thirds of the new leasable area, driven exclusively by expansions and refurbishments of existing projects. In addition, several new retail parks and shopping galleries were built in cities across the country, reinforcing the continued focus on smaller and medium-sized urban markets. Rents remained largely stable towards the end of 2025, after a moderate increase recorded at the beginning of the year. Occupancy in prime projects remained steady, supported by the limited availability of high-quality spaces and by active tenant rotation strategies. Thus, Romania is aligning with larger European markets, where owners of dominant assets are increasingly leveraging their position to improve the tenant mix. Romania stands out as a market where structural foundations continue to support long-term retail growth, despite short-term economic challenges.
It remains a resilient sector, with strong interest in retail parks and proximity formats, supported by solid consumer spending performance.
“The record number of transactions completed by our Retail department in 2025 (a total of 850 transactions, new leases and extensions, of which 320 transactions with lease terms of at least 5 years and 530 transactions with lease terms of less than 5 years) shows retailers’ interest in the shopping center market, whether malls or retail parks. In a more cautious economic climate, retailers’ decision to continue investing is a clear sign of maturity and confidence in Romania’s long-term potential in a European context,” said Carmen Ravon, Head of Retail EEC & Romania, CBRE.
Office: In 2026, companies are prioritizing space efficiency, strategic locations and buildings that meet the latest modern and sustainability specifications. Similar to the core European markets, the foundations of the Bucharest office market strengthened in 2025, driven by resilient purchase levels and by the first year with zero new deliveries. The total leasing business reached 280,000 sq. m, down by 27% compared to the previous year, largely reflecting lower development volumes, limited central availability and the transactions anticipated from previous years, rather than a weakening in occupant demand. The total area of 166,000 sq. m confirms a stable base of net demand, supported by new leases, relocations and expansions. Demand was driven by the financial, IT, manufacturing and energy sectors; the leasing business was concentrated in the Floreasca-Barbu Văcărescu and Piața Victoriei areas and in the central and western parts of the capital city. The vacancy rate decreased further in the central areas, reaching historical lows of around 4%, while the city-wide vacancy rate stood at 11.1% at year-end. Given the limited growth in the supply of vacant spaces and similar levels of expected demand, the overall vacancy rate is likely to continue its downward trend, with the potential of reaching a single-digit value.
“The first year without deliveries of modern offices in Bucharest has led to the vacancy rate falling below 5% both in central locations and in the Floreasca – Barbu Văcărescu area. The steady demand we are seeing for buildings of high-quality, well positioned and with easy access to the subway system, has strengthened developers’ confidence, and over 200,000 sq. m of offices are currently under construction in Bucharest,” stated Tudor Ionescu, Head of Leasing Office, CBRE Romania.
Investments: 2026 is shaping up to be a year of recovery, supported by attractive prices in the EEC region and by an improved economy. The positive perception of investors on the Romanian real estate investment market is expected to strengthen in 2026. Although 2025 remained a moderate year, characterized by smaller transactions and limited institutional activity, momentum improved in Q4 and points to a more active investment environment going forward, a trend seen in many European countries at the end of last year. Recovery is in an early stage, with an investment volume in 2025 of approximately EUR 535 million, still well below Romania’s five-year annual average (down by 30%). This pattern reflects the developments seen more broadly across Europe, where recovery is progressing gradually. The Romanian market in 2025 was dominated by income-focused strategies, with investors concentrating on defensive assets and stable cash flows. Local capital played a central role, accounting for 31% of the total annual investment volume.
“In this transition period, the role of Romanian capital is particularly important, as it brings stability and continuity at a time when international investors remain cautious. Looking ahead, we see two clear drivers of recovery: on the one hand, the decline in interest rates, which will bring back to Romania investors who are active on other EEC markets; on the other hand, the development of local capital sources, including the emergence of Romanian institutional investors. Together, these forces will help restore a healthy investment pace and strengthen the market,” said Mihai Pătrulescu, Head of Investment Properties, CBRE Romania.
Land: In 2025, sales of over 136 hectares of developable land were transacted nationwide, representing a 41% increase compared to the previous year. Of the total area, 55% was concentrated in Bucharest and Ilfov, while the remaining 45% was recorded in cities across the country, including Cluj-Napoca, Bacău and Constanța. Romania’s developable land market in 2025 is characterized by well-informed acquisitions and highly-documented portfolio enhancement strategies. The intended uses of the land transactions are concentrated in four sectors: retail (33%), mixed-use (26%), residential (22%) and industrial (18%). Prices for zoned land in and around Bucharest recorded moderate increases, and this trend is expected to continue this year as well. Otherwise, land prices generally remained stable, with marginal increases of up to 5% recorded in some secondary cities and suburban areas. Although interest remains strong in the retail, residential and industrial segments, transactions are increasingly dependent on a clearer zoning status, predictable permitting processes and confirmed access to essential utilities.
Operational performance and rent price growth are expected to remain the main drivers of capital value growth in 2026, both in Romania and across Europe. Looking ahead, Romania’s investment volume exceeds EUR 800 million, suggesting that 2026 could resemble a more typical market year. This is in line with the broader European outlook, where the gradual recovery is supported by improved liquidity, stable pricing and sustained investor interest in core income-generating assets.