www.business-review.eu Business Review | September 2020
6 REAL ESTATE
Romanian residential market showing resilience to the COVID-19 crisis New housing has become more expensive in European countries over the last few years, including in 2019. Among the 23 countries participating in the Deloitte Property Index Study, 20 showed growth in prices of new dwellings and only three of them saw a price drop. Romania was among the former, with a price increase of 8.1 percent in the first quarter of the year. By Aurel Constantin extension to the law regarding the 5 percent VAT rate to the sales of dwellings, which is yet to be enforced,” said Alexandra Smedoiu, Partner at Deloitte Romania and Real Estate Industry Leader. The biggest price increase on the residential market was recorded in Luxemburg, a country that participated in the Deloitte Property Index Study for the first time, with an advance of about 13 percent in 2019 compared to the previous year, followed by France (+12.6 percent) and Spain (+12.4 percent). Serbia is on the opposite side, with a 7.4 percent drop in housing prices over the same period. Among Central and Eastern European countries (CEE), dwellings in Hungary (+11.5 percent), Slovakia (+11 percent) and Poland (+9.7 percent) recorded the largest price increases on the residential market. In the CEE, in countries such as Slovakia, Croatia, Poland, Hungary, and Serbia, prices ranged from 1,000 EUR/sqm to 2,000 EUR/ sqm. In this region, only prices in the Czech Republic exceeded the threshold, reaching H Eliade 9 Residence project in Bucharest
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2,602 EUR/sqm, especially due to Prague’s high share of the national average. In 2019, Paris was the most expensive city
xperts in the residential real estate
tract, the accommodative monetary policy of
in terms of transaction prices of new dwell-
market expected the growth trend to
the European Central Bank and of other cen-
ings, with 12,863 EUR/sqm, in a slight decline
continue in 2020, but they became
tral banks in the European Union aim to keep
(0.4 percent) compared to 2018. By compari-
less optimistic in the context of the COVID-19
interest rates at low levels and, indirectly, to
son, a square meter of a new dwelling in the
pandemic. In almost half of participating
be supportive of the housing market. In Ro-
city of Nis (Serbia) cost only 790 EUR and
countries, the residential market is expected
mania, house prices rose by 8.1 percent in the
was the cheapest among the examined cities
to stagnate this year in terms of price, with
first quarter of 2020 compared to the same
in 2019. The average price across all the 67
experts in only six countries having positive
quarter of the previous year, according to
examined cities was of 3,758 EUR/sqm.
expectations. “The residential market is usu-
Eurostat data. By the end of the year, we are
ally sensitive to macroeconomic conditions,
expecting this trend to continue, supported
THE IMPACT OF COVID-19
but also to the supply-demand ratio. Even
by the legislative changes considered for the
The impact of the pandemic on the Romanian
if the European economy is forecast to con-
First Home programme and the announced
residential market will be different for each
