Except in Bucharest, the prices of apartments in residential compounds have grown faster than those in buildings erected before 1989, widening the price gap between old and new housing, real estate portal imobiliare.ro said in a press release Thursday.
In the capital city, the price difference between old and new apartments currently stands at around 11%, considerably lower than the 20% price difference recorded at the end of 2013. Bucharest is the only city in Romania where the price of new housing has dropped in 2014. Prices declined 5.3% in the first nine months, from EUR1,184 per square meter to EUR1,121 per sqm. Old housing prices, on the other hand, grew 2.6%, from EUR982 to EUR1,008 per sqm.
In Brasov, new housing is on average EUR69 per sqm, or 8%, more expensive than old housing. At the end of 2013, the price difference was EUR54 per sqm. The gap widened as the price of new housing in Brasov grew nearly 3% this year, from EUR868 to EUR894 per sqm, while old housing prices grew 1.35%, from EUR814 to EUR825 per sqm, according to Imobiliare.ro.
Cluj-Napoca is the only major city where new housing is cheaper than old housing, mainly due to location, as most new housing is in Floresti, near Cluj-Napoca, an not within the city limits. Old apartments in Cluj are 10% more expensive than new apartments, from a gap of around 20% at the end of last year. The price of apartments in residential projects in Cluj grew nearly 13.2% in the first nine months, from EUR797 to EUR902 per sqm, while old apartment prices grew 2%, from EUR970 to EUR990 per sqm.
New housing in Constanta is 6% more expensive than old housing, with an average price difference of EUR50 per sqm, from a gap of EUR29 per sqm at the end of 2013. According to the imobiliare.ro index, the price of new housing in Constanta grew nearly 2.8% in the first nine months, from EUR861 to EUR885 per sqm, while old housing prices remained stable, at EUR835 per sqm, from EUR832 per sqm at the end of last year.
In Timisoara, the price difference between old and new housing was of EUR79 per sqm, around 9%, at the end of September, up from EUR46 per sqm at the end of last year. In the first nine months, prices of new apartments in Timisoara rose 7.9%, from EUR832 to EUR898 per sqm, while old housing prices grew nearly 5%, from EUR786 to EUR825 per sqm.