Eurobank Property Services’ latest report on the Residential Property Index for the Romanian Market in the fourth quarter of 2014 reveals that the local residential market will continue to be stable.

The index for Romania decreased by 1-6% quarter-on-quarter in Q4 2014, maintaining a stable price outlook. When compared to the same period the year before, the decrease was of 2.6%.

“The recent price stagnation combined with the 2.6% average decline a year during the past five years suggests that the stability in the Romanian residential market will continue, without any conclusive indication that prices will register significant increase,” reads the report.

Bucharest’s index fell by 0.1% in the last three months of 2014 while the Central Bucharest index rose by 1.1% in the same period. The Bucharest Ring index also registered a slight decline of 0.3% while Ilfov County index had a positive growth of 1.7%.

From the beginning of 2014, the capital area showed minor positive growth rates on a year-on-year basis, except for Ilfov County that registered a negative growth of 1.5%, according to Eurobank Property Services (EPS).

When looking at Romania’s eight regions, the report shows that only three of them continued on a rising trend.

The largest quarter-on-quarter price growth of 1.4% was seen in the Danube and Black Sea region, followed by the South and Bucharest-Ilfov regions. On the other hand, the West area recorded the steepest quarter-on-quarter price drop, of minus 4.9%, followed by the Muntenia, Moldova and North areas.

The prices of new properties in Bucharest continued to surpass the average level, reaching a 4.8% increase in the last four quarters. By comparison, the prices of old properties located in the capital stagnated.

At a national level, new properties recorded steeper price reductions than the old ones, of 2.6% year-on-year.

Overall, the EPS Residential Index shows a continuation of the overall price-decreasing trend. Moreover, several other factors may suggest a potential index growth in the following quarters, according to the report.

Eurobank Property Services S.A. is a subsidiary of Eurobank Group and was established in 2005.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com