DEVELOPMENTS IN THE ROMANIAN REAL ESTATE: WHERE TO?

The financial crisis has deeply affected Eastern European countries since the end of 2008. The global economic crisis put an end to a period when the region witnessed solid economic growth, high inflows of foreign investment and a dynamic real estate sector, which was one of the main drivers of the region's economic growth. The Eastern European real estate market was deeply impacted by the crisis. Investment in real estate dropped sharply due to the significant increase in risks and difficulties in financial borrowing. Rising unemployment affected retail sales, as well as office net absorption. Take-up fell significantly in all markets: transactions were of smaller size and demand for buildings decreased. On the supply side, vacancy increased sharply due to the high level of completions entering the market. The strong rise in vacancy rates has put pressure on rents, which dropped sharply in 2008 and in early 2009. They started to stabilise only by the end of 2009. How will the Romanian real estate market evolve? No one knows for certain. Through this work we try to get some predictions based on statistical theory and not on the lessons learned from other crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]