Full of Eastern promise: Romania to boom sooner rather than later
An expert to guide an investor is a must, in our view. Failing that, you should buy through an established company offering deals in the country. In short, going it all alone can be very dodgy. Buyer beware!
However, there are a great many points in Romania’s favour that make the country a great opportunity.
Why Romania?
The most important factor is the rapidly growing domestic mortgage market – in effect an expanding middle class with aspirations to buy their own home – and this is a very attractive element, but this applies to just about every country you look at in the region. Except that Romania is starting from a very low base indeed.
In the medium term, though, perhaps top of my list for taking the view that Romania is going to be the next property hotspot is the fact that – along with Bulgaria – it has already convinced the European Commission that it is ready for EU entry in just over two years time.
But, don’t delay your research because property prices will start to rise long before then – during the anticipatory phase.
Just a couple of weeks ago the European Commission made a key announcement.
It said that it would, “make every effort in order to meet the objective set by the European Council to successfully conclude negotiations with these two countries (Romania and Bulgaria) by the end of 2004″.
The aim is to sign the Accession Treaty with both countries as early as possible in 2005.
‘Romania can be ready for membership by January 2007′, the EU Commission concluded.
It added that the Romanian authorities had ‘established a track record in implementing their commitments.’
Opinions vary on what signing the Accession Treaty will do to property prices.
In other countries, leaps of 40% have been recorded at this stage. But whatever happens in the immediate future, there is good reason to believe Romania will see a significant rise in real estate prices, especially in Bucharest.
The great attraction of Romania is that prices and the property market in general are in its infancy. As such, phenomenal growth can be anticipated.
