Romania and Hungary are the only countries of CEE where the area of leased spaces increased in the first quarter.
Logistics operators contributed around 50% to the volume of demand registered in Romania in January-March 2023, with a significant activity also coming from the part of production companies and FMCG ones.
Almost 200,000 square meters, accounting for 60% of deals signed during the analyzed period were for new spaces. More than half of new contracts are in projects set to be delivered in 2024.
“Industrial and logistic space demand remains relatively strong at the beginning of the year, even amid a background of inflation and high interest rates, of falling consumer demand and overall economic uncertainty. Moreover, Romania remains a relevant market in the region, further attracting companies wanting to strengthen or expand their foothold in CEE,” says Andrei Brinzea, Partner Land & Industrial Agency Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.
Demand was mostly concentrated in Romania’s main logistic hubs, namely around Bucharest (32% of the overall volume) and Timisoara (25%).
In terms of new project development, the first quarter saw an investment slowdown as developers became more cautious amid economic uncertainty.
Thus, almost 100,000 square meters of new spaces were delivered in the first three months of the year, below the quarterly average of the past two years, of 180,000 square meters. The stock of industrial and logistic spaces reached 6.66 million square meters. The vacancy rate stood at 5.1% in Bucharest and 6.6% regionally.
Romania’s warehousing space market still significantly lags behind the Czech one, with Poland leading by far, with a stock of almost 29 million square meters.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)