C&W Echinox: developers maintain strong appetite for real estate projects in Bucharest

The volume of land transactions in Bucharest pertaining to future real estate developments has almost doubled to EUR 720 mln in the 2020 – H1 2022 period, compared with the previous five-semester period (H2 2017 - 2019), according to the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox real estate consultancy company.

The figures are interpreted as illustrating the strong appetite for real estate projects, even in the context of the Covid-19 crisis and the subsequent strong inflationary pressures.

Notably, the record transaction volume was achieved in a period when real estate developers have constantly accusedthe negative impact of Bucharest City Hall scrapping the zonal urban development plans (PUZ) for all the capital city’s districts. A study released recently by Bucharest Real Estate Club - an entity bringing together most of the real estate companies active in the city - comes to the conclusion that the uncertainty generated by the lack of valid PUZs generated impact visible in terms of national GDP and will trigger catastrophic developments.

The total area transacted in the most recent five-semester period was of approximately 4,700,000 sqm (470 hectares), with 85 transactions being considered, thus corresponding to an average value of EUR 8.5 mln per individual transaction.

Residential developers were the most active in terms of land acquisitions in the past 2.5 years, as they secured land plots allowing the construction of more than 30,000 housing units in all parts of Bucharest.

Industrial and logistics players concluded land transactions for an area totalling over 1.2 million sqm in the same period, on which over 500,000 sqm of industrial and logistics spaces could be developed.

Moreover, the retail chains (mainly the German ones), such as Kaufland, Lidl, Rewe (Penny), continued to buy new land plots, aiming to expand their local footprints.

(Photo source: Dreamstime.com)