According to a survey by real estate consultancy firm CBRE, the average monthly office space rent in Bucharest was EUR18.5/square meter last year. Retail spaces in shopping centers were rented for an average of EUR50/sqm/month, and industrial space rents were at EUR4.1/sqm/month.
Office space rents decreased in 17 of the 53 markets included in the survey. Bucharest is ranked 12th regarding rental levels. Smaller monthly rents are registered in Lille (EUR16.7/sqm), Rotterdam (EUR17.5/sqm), The Hague (EUR17.5/sqm) and Barcelona (EUR17.75/sqm).
The highest monthly rents in the EMEA are registered in London (EUR102/sqm), Moscow (EUR76/sqm) and Paris (EUR69.1/sqm).
Bucharest is the fifth cheapest city regarding retail space rents, after Zagreb, Porto, Belgrade and Abu Dhabi.
In Prague, retail spaces are rented for EUR85/sqm/month, in Warsaw for EUR90/sqm and in Budapest for EUR EUR100/sqm.
Regarding industrial space rents, the Romanian capital is also the fifth cheapest city of 43 analyzed in the survey, after Brussels, Athens, Warsaw and Lisbon.
On the other hand, the return on investment in office, retail and industrial spaces in Bucharest remained unchanged in 2012 at 8.25%, 8.75% and 10.25%, respectively.