Gabriel Voicu (Coldwell Banker): Banks are more open to finance residential projects

Newsroom 17/06/2016 | 17:42

Asking prices for residential properties have remained on an upward trend in the first five months of the year, posting growth of 6.6 percent in Bucharest over this period y-o-y, said Dorel Nita, head of the real estate analysis division at Imobiliare.ro. The number of transactions involving homes has also been on the rise over the five months, growing by almost 20 percent in the capital, he added.

While the indicators show a positive trend, the actual growth of the market is distorted by the existence of the state-guaranteed loan program Prima Casa, said Andreea Comsa, managing director of Premier Estate Management. “The number of transaction is fully dependent on a program that is backed by the state and doesn’t necessarily represent a healthy trend that we could rely on. One should also consider what will happen once this program ceases to exist,” she said, adding that this would almost surely lead to a drop of the number of transactions.

Nevertheless, developers are going ahead with expansion plans and their interest is shifting from southern Bucharest to the northern part of the city, said Gabriel Voicu, director of the new homes division at Coldwell Banker. Banks are helping this by showing more openness to financing residential developments, although they are vetting projects more thoroughly now, he added.

For now, the coming into force of the debt discharge bill has somewhat dampened investors’ enthusiasm, but all players will have to eventually get used to the new requirement and there should not be a major impact on the market, suggested panelists.

One segment of the market that promises more growth is the premium segment, added Comsa. This is understandable as this niche has seen fewer new developments in recent years compared to the mid market, she commented. One encouraging trend that highlights the confidence buyers have is the off-plan acquisition of such premium properties which Comsa says is something that hasn’t happened for years.

Simona Bazavan

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