Real estate: Analysis: About 2,000 residential units under construction

About 2,000 residential units are under construction now, while three quarters (76%) of real estate projects in Romania are no more than 4 stories high.   “More of half of real estate investments in Romania (57%) are in the stage preceding construction – obtaining building license – a month after the beginning of war in Ukraine,” according to an analysis made by Faraagentie.ro.   The analysis shows there are question marks about inflation, the price of building materials, as well as the effects of more expensive credits in Romania. We will see how the construction market will evolve, considering that most residential investments will begin in 2023 or 2024.   Thus, about 2,000 ensembles are under construction now, that is 28% of projects analysed. The company analyzed the market of new residential units to see the main tendencies in the market. The analysis includes 6,403 building sites which represent constructions of residential ensembles and apartment buildings.   Three quarters (76%) of real estate projects in Romania are no more than 4 stories high. They are easier to build and do not involve the complexity of higher buildings. Another explanation is the fact that in many urban areas these investments get licenses from developers more easily. At country level, IBC Focus identified 439 residential projects at least 10 stories high. Top 5 cities where the highest residential buildings are being built are : Bucharest (175), Constanta (42), Brasov (35), Iasi (33), Timisoara (27).   “The fact that Cluj is not included in this top although it ranks first in the top of the most expensive apartments in Romania is interesting. More high residential projects are expected in this city in order to optimize the real estate investment by investors,” the company shows.   The year 2022 remains uncertain in the area of residential investments considering the fact that there are many projects to be initiated. However, the fact that 13% of new ensembles in the construction stage are sold out before being completed is an optimistic argument. For instance, 33% of real estate ensembles in construction in Cluj are sold out.   Besides the effects of war in Ukraine that can influence the demand for new houses, the biggest problem of real estate developers concerns the predictability of building costs when the rising price of materials and manpower in constructions, doubled by the higher prices in architecture dives headaches to investors and builders, he says. Also, there is a barrier coming in the legislative domain: obtaining building licenses and, according to areas, certain restrictions imposed more and more often by the authorities.   Faraagentie.ro is a freemium project developed by IBC Focus where the developers' promotion is free and so is the customers' access when they try to buy houses. IBC Focus is a company set up 16 years ago, active in the market of building site and building projects monitoring in Romania.