Undoubtedly the international economic crisis affected Romania, but not as bad as the countries of the south.
In our previous comments, we stressed that in the long ran we feel that the future of the property market in Romania, and especially in the area of the Capital Bucharest, is very promising and compares favourably with other European Capitals.
Our opinion is based on the fact that in capitals like London and Berlin, the market is ‘mature’ with a result that the return is limited.
On the other hand in Romania, prices are still low, and therefore an investor can buy a leased office or commercial property with a return of approx. 12% plus a substantial capital appreciation, which is foreseen for the following years.
Also a developer can develop a building with small apartments which can be sold (under the ‘prima casa’ scheme) at around E900-1000/sq.m. with a cost of E500-600/sq.m. We wish to emphasise here that all studies made by international organizations, like IMF show that the population of Bucharest in the following years will increase dramatically.
The above kind of investments (income fetching investments) are completely different from the speculative investments where a piece of land is bought with intention to make plots and sell them for capital appreciation.
Some investors are reluctant to invest in Romania, and they prefer to invest in London, or Berlin even with much lower return. The reason for their decision is that they are not sure about the security of their investment in Romania. Our presence in Romania is dated back 15 years, and we know the local conditions very well. The constitution of Romania safeguards the ownership in a very strong way, but it is true that great care is necessary in the beginning before buying a property. We can help in this area, and we can investigate thoroughly the ownership documents in association with our lawyers and after that we take up the administration of the property with full regular feedback to the client investor.
Also as authorized accountants we make all necessary accounting records and all returns to the authorities.