Cushman & Wakefield Echinox reported that over 1 million square meters of new office space have been leased across Romania in the past five years, with the IT sector remaining the dominant driver of the market. According to the real estate consultancy firm, the demand for office spaces has been primarily generated by IT companies, manufacturing and industrial firms, and the medical and pharma sectors, which together accounted for more than half of the new leasing activity.

From 2020 to 2024, net take-up in Bucharest and major regional cities like Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași, and Brașov totaled approximately 1.06 million square meters. This area is comparable to the total office stock in the four regional cities or 30% of the stock in Bucharest.

Considering the average office space allocated per employee (8-10 square meters), the report suggests that office space was leased for at least 100,000 employees across Romania’s main cities during the past five years.

The IT sector stands out as the most active, contributing over 35% of the new demand and contracting 375,730 sqm of space nationwide. In second place, with a significant but smaller share, are manufacturing and industrial companies, which accounted for 9.2% of the total demand (98,000 square meters), followed by the pharma and medical sectors, with 9% (95,200 sqm).

Other notable sectors include professional services and the financial industry, with nearly 86,000 and 75,000 sqm leased, respectively.

The total office space transacted during this period, including renegotiated contracts, exceeded 2 million sqm, with IT companies accounting for over 40% of the transactions.

The stock of modern office space in Bucharest and key university cities such as Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Iași, and Brașov stands at approximately 4.51 million sqm. Additionally, 390,000 sqm of office space are currently under development and expected to be delivered over the next five years.

Despite this expansion, the average vacancy rate across the five cities analyzed stands at 13.8%. Cluj-Napoca has the lowest vacancy rate at 6.6%, while Iași has the highest at 19.4%. In Bucharest, the vacancy rate dropped to 14.2% by the end of last year.

In terms of prime rents over the past five years, in Bucharest, at the end of last year, they reached a maximum level of EUR 21/sqm/month, representing an increase of 10.5% compared to 2020. In regional cities, rent growth was up to 13%, to a maximum level of EUR 17/sqm/month.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

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