Meanwhile, the spectrum of international investors in Romania has clearly grown. More and more of them are looking for alternatives to the established Western and Central European markets. So far investors’ interest is mainly concentrated in the capital of Bucharest, but their interest is increasingly broadening to other regional centres, such as Cluj, Brasov and Constanta. Especially Timisoara, in the Western part of the country, has developed most dynamically next to Bucharest.

The growing international interest in real estate investments in Romania is running up against a lack of suitable properties. The early birds, the Austrians, have already “caught the worm” and snatched away the best parts from the “newcomers”. Therefore, investors are increasingly joining the game during or even before the start of a development project — a promising strategy, considering the many projects in the pipeline in all real estate sectors.

According to reports from CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), in the first half year of 2006, 151,000 square metres of office space in Bucharest sprouted up into the market and, thus, more than the entire previous year (146,000 square metres). In total, modern office space in the Romanian capital has exceeded the limit of a million square metres — a good third of that is the upscale international standard (class A). The vacancy rates have also increased — with modern spaces based on international standards, from one percent at the end of 2005 to roughly four percent. However, based on CBRE estimations, this has less to do with a lack of demand than with the fact that the property owner wants to have long-term contracts — no fewer than five years. The tenants, however, want to commit to a maximum of three years. The rents for class A spaces remain unchanged at 18.5 to 19 Euros per square metre and month, but will increasingly face pressure, since — according to the plans — roughly 400,000 square metres of new office space will hit the market in 2007 alone — approximately 80 percent based on international standards.