Bucharest leads in fast apartment sales, Cluj-Napoca homeowners face longest waits – report

Homeowners in Bucharest are finding buyers for their apartments faster than anywhere else in Romania, while sellers in Cluj-Napoca face the longest waits, according to a new real estate market report published by Imobiliare.ro and quoted by Agerpres.

The study, titled Market 360: Residential Real Estate, Q2 2025, shows that transactions in the capital are closed in an average of just 47 days, significantly quicker than a year ago and well below the national average. At the opposite end, apartment owners in Cluj-Napoca wait around two months on average to secure a buyer.

Other major cities fall in between. In Brașov, apartments sold in an average of 62 days in the second quarter, slightly faster than earlier in the year but still longer than in 2024. In Iași, one of the country’s most affordable large cities, the average selling period has lengthened compared to last year, when homes were sold in just 44 days, rivaling the pace of the Bucharest market.

Constanța, meanwhile, has seen sales accelerate: the average transaction time dropped to 64 days from 69 last year.

The report highlights regional differences not only in transaction speed but also in pricing behavior. Sellers in Cluj-Napoca are described as the most flexible in negotiations, while those in Timișoara are the least willing to budge on price. In Bucharest, the negotiation margin has widened slightly to 4.1% in the second quarter, up from 3.5% at the beginning of the year.

Overall, apartment prices in Brașov, Iași, and Constanța have increased between 12% and 16% over the past year. Negotiation margins also widened in Brașov and Iași, reaching 3.1% and 4.1% respectively, while in Constanța, discounts have narrowed amid strong demand.

(Photo source: Pattanaphong Khuankaew/Dreamstime.com)