Good afternoon.

My name is Serghey I from a neighbouring country Moldova. We observed a rise in prices in Romania, to the introduction into the European Union the sharp rise in prices for all real estate was observed. For today, in other words after the introduction of Romania into the European union the rise in prices was slowed down and has stopped.

Sorry to disappoint you RealEstateMoldova, prices in Romania are in a continuous rising. New developments announce increased prices each month, what we are selling is what we call "hot", indecision or hesitation makes many investors lose golden opportunities simply because the prices go high with every month or even with every week, depending on the quality of the property. There are actually 2 years of spectaculous growth and after that at least 4 more years of slower increase. Stagnation is to be expected no sooner than 6 years or even more.
I think it's best (take it as an advice) if you want to sell properties in Moldova to advertise the qualities of your country rather than attack Romania. We would be very interested in what Moldova has to offer, but so far from our collaborators we had negative feedback re investment opportunities there. Send me a private message and let's talk things over.

I totally agree with Transylvania Investment. Instead of making a wrong supposition you should rather take a moment and investigate before. The Romanian Real Estate is still doing great, being the country where you can obtain some of the biggest profits in all Europe. And this was before the accession to the E.U. and after...

Have a nice day

I think investing in Romania is a good idea if you are fluent in a few phrases. These phrases should, ideally, include such life-savers as:
"My appendix has burst, can I trust your surgeon?"
"The cold water pipe has split on the washing machine."
"The thermostat has stuck again and the last 4 electricians I tried aren't answering."

My mother is part Romanian. She never learned these important phrases. (Not much call for them in Hampstead.) If you can do these translations, go ahead. If not, it might prove easier to marry a Romanian (not one from Hampstead obviously) or invest in a country with an easier language.

Just a thought.

Michele

__________________
Michele Andrew
Editor of Square Foot Magazine

Michele, I tend to agree with you, but this is how the country is and probably will stay this way for years from now on.
Nevertheless if you look at the investment potential, you have to admit it is very high. I am not recommending you to buy in order to relocate! I am recommending you to buy for relatively small prices now, rent what you bought for a few years and then resell for a higher price!
Not rarely people come here to invest neglecting important aspects such as fiscal issues consultancy or law consultancy, they make bad deals and then they tend to blame the country for their mistake. To be honest I would not bother to invest anywhere without having those fields covered. But to some, cutting costs is so much more important!
As for the language, if only Spanish would be easier! Have you tried learning Spanish, Michele (btw, you have a nice French name, have you tried to learn French? you found it easy to learn, dear?) Or probably you advise us to invest only in the areas where English speaking parts of the globe!

hi, i am going on an inspection trip with *** on wed 2 bucharest 2 look at property, does any know if *** are a company 2 be trusted or r they just after a sale and have no interest in a real investor, i was going 2 purchace about 10 studios, i was told that there would be a 400% incrase in 10years plus 10%+ rental yields, is this just a sale pitch or r these figures expected.

Transylvania Investment - What are the typical rental yields that you offer clients, on units.
Do the rents pay the mortgage, if the clients put in 20%?

__________________

Michele,

It was obviously just a single thought as more thought would not have given you this opinion. Your perceptions are superficial and if we are talking about investing with the obvious intention of making money in Romania (which I have done and am doing now) I don't understand the relevance of your comment other than exposing your own personal prejudices. I have seen many times in Romania arrogance and a sense of superiority by Westerners when dealing with Romanians. History has not been kind to Romania and even recent events of the last half century, fifty years of communism thanks partly to the generosity of your own Mr Churchill and then a collapsed economy post 1989. Not every country has had the benefit of an empire and been able to harvest it's wealth for generations and still benefitting today. The great saviour of Hampstead is the English Channel otherwise you may be something of different country after visits by Napoleon, the Kaiser and Hitler. That expanse of water has more to do with the British character than anything intrinsicly special about British people. Being Australian I have had many dealings with them as well.

Greg

You don't read Romanian, isn't it?

Let me translate for you the main ideas behind an article published this evening in an influential Romanian daily newspaper, Cotidianul.

The title states: The performance of the new apartments do not justify the rising prices (Rom. Vinzarile de apartamente noi nu justifica scumpirile)

Main idea: In 2007 developers offered in Bucharest almost 21.000 new apartments. However, only 7.000 were bought. Taking into account that ~30% are usually bought by investment funds, it seems that only 4000-4500 were really bought by final users.

Question that the journalist puts down: then why should we expect to see prices rising for another year, since people aren't hungry to buy? Nobody really knows the answer, but influential analyst Liviu Ureche answers: "The numbers are very low and are under 50% of what was expected. ... Many people can't get a loan from the banks. However, I think that the market will be able to support this year another 15% rise [-this is tipical from any Romanian real estate agent, the facts are black but he/she says that there is a chance that white and black are the same colour] but for some projects that will remain unsold it is possible to see the contrary."

According to reports from the National Union of the Public Notaries submitted to Cotidianul, the performance of old apartments (those build in communist era) in 2007 is also poor, worst than in 2004-2006.

My comment: there is an obvious bubble there, and this bubble is set to burst.

Goldberg Global - we don't sell anything we can't manage in the best interest of our clients. So the answer is yes: anything our clients buy with us can be rented out to a fee that covers the mortgage.

Markf I agree with you new apartments can be sometimes very expensive and to an extent they don't deserve to be purchased. This is something anyone who knows the Romanian market well enough can tell you: when an office building in Bucharest central area sells for 3500 EUR/1 sq. m. I think anyone can see the growth in that is superficial.
However I would not venture in calling Romania a bubble based on an article when there were thousands of articles so far who praized and overrated the capacity of Romanian real estate market. Better base your comments on economic and financial data rather than quote an article in the Romanian press!

Greg C - lol