The property bubble in Romania has burst. At the end of the year, a clear collapse in real estate prices was recorded, local media reported end of November. The new higher taxes, combined with economic uncertainty in the country, are causing more and more Romanians to postpone buying their own home.
While the construction sites of future apartment blocks around office buildings are once again bustling with workers, the interest of potential buyers is no longer what it was in previous years. In October alone, the number of property transactions fell by nearly 19% compared to last year.
“The increase in VAT from 9 to 21% is putting enormous pressure on the market. Buyers who take out a bank loan have to provide more of their own funds, and monthly payments automatically increase,” said Antoanela Comcea, deputy executive director of Global Vision. The most affected are small apartments – studios and two-room apartments.
“Still, the year was good for construction. The volume of construction work has increased by 9% year-to-date, compared to the same period in 2024. The largest increase – 11.3% – is in residential buildings, a sign that investors have resumed their projects. At the same time, the number of transactions has decreased by about 3%, which shows that people are postponing the decision to buy a new home for the time being,” commented Florentina Bălăşoiu, a correspondent for Pro TV.
“We are currently in a period in which the power is shifting from the seller to the buyer. This is visible in the stagnation of prices, and in Oradea and Iași we are even observing a slight decline – true, about two percent,” said Daniel Krajnic, a real estate expert.
In other large cities, the market is also cooling down. In Cluj-Napoca – the most expensive housing market in the country – prices have risen by only one percent. In Brasov, they remained unchanged, and in the capital, the growth is less than a percent. On the other hand, Craiova and Sibiu are becoming more attractive – prices are gradually rising there. In Sibiu, the price per square meter is already approaching that in Constanta. This stagnation comes after years in which prices grew by an average of 15% per year. Experts expect the market to stabilize only around 2027.
Illustrative Photo by Diana ✨: https://www.pexels.com/photo/glass-covered-building-2033329/
