Real Estate Potential: Smaller Cities Attract Investor Interest

The prosperous state of the real estate market is causing investors to focus their attention on smaller cities as well, not just the well-known business hubs. Pitesti, Ploiesti, or Oradea are just a few of the smaller cities, with under 200,000 inhabitants, but with high development potential, according to real estate specialists.

The largest five or six Romanian cities have always attracted the majority of real estate investors, with projects being carried out here even in more difficult times. However, the last two years have brought large sums into the real estate sector, so developers have also turned their attention to smaller cities, specialists observe.

“Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, Brasov, or Timisoara are cities where new real estate projects are constantly being launched, and the market has been in steady growth, especially in the last three years. However, there are also emerging cities from this point of view, which show signs that in the coming years they will be able to position themselves on the map of real estate markets of interest in Romania,” stated Razvan Cuc, Regional Director of RE/MAX Romania.

“After a relative freeze in construction, both companies and the population are returning to the investment sector against the backdrop of increasing confidence in the economy. The data confirms a positive trend which, to consolidate its evolution, needs support from the banking environment and a stable exchange rate. Supporting investments in infrastructure, and in construction in general, generates healthy economic development, which Romania needs. Counties such as Arges, Calarasi, Dambovita, Giurgiu, Ialomita, Prahova, or Teleorman have significant growth potential, based on the confidence of companies and small entrepreneurs in a projected medium and long-term stability that allows businesses to grow,” emphasize Arabesque representatives.

Ploiesti, Oradea, Pitesti, Arad, Sibiu, and Bacau are the cities where development potential is observed in the real estate segment, with RE/MAX Romania estimating constant annual increases of approximately 5% over the next two years, both in terms of the number of transactions and housing prices.

“Our analyses show that more and more real estate developers are making their presence felt in these cities as well, and the number of residential real estate projects is on a continuous rise, with clients being increasingly interested in choosing new and modernly equipped homes,” specify RE/MAX Romania representatives.

Thus, in cities such as Ploiesti, Pitesti, and Oradea, the average price per square meter varies between 700-800 euros, the most sought-after types of housing being two- and three-room apartments, while in the commercial and office segments, a slight increase in the number of requests is noted.