Real estate consultancy tipped to double in value in 5 years

The real estate market is maintaining the good momentum that it has enjoyed for the last few years, and this can be seen in the consultancy market, which is attracting new players despite the fact that some analysts are predicting a crisis in the near future.

Consultancy in the real estate market has long been an unknown in terms of size and turnover. And it is still opaque when it comes to the small army of agents carrying out transactions involving old properties between private individuals. But for the big real estate players managing offices, industrial spaces and new residential buildings, things are different and estimates are available.

RE / MAX Romania, part of the world leader in real estate and the world’s number one franchise on this segment, estimates that the real estate consultancy market in Romania has reached about EUR 80 million, and predicts that the market will double in size in five years. The report also found that while in 2014 the market was characterized by instability, the industry has made great strides in recent years in terms of professionalism and trust in the target audience. “The real estate consultancy market has witnessed an accelerated evolution in recent years, a sign that Romanians’ increased appetite for real estate transactions requires specialized advice and constant professional guidance focused on customer needs and preferences. That said, from a brief analysis compared to the developed markets, we note that there is still great potential for growth in the field, which requires joint efforts from players to reach the peak. Constant investment in education and the need to professionalize agents to Western standards will bring a change of perception from the Romanian public in relation to the industry in which we operate, giving clients the confidence they need in the real estate consultant’s quality services,” said Razvan Cuc, president of RE / MAX Romania.

On a market where the main players are RE / MAX, Colliers, CBRE, Coldwell Banker, JLL Romania and newcomers like SVN Romania, there are about 8,000 agents or one agent per 2,500 inhabitants, while in North America the ratio is one agent per 300 inhabitants. According to the RE / MAX representative, to reach this threshold, it is necessary to regulate the industry’s professional rules, adopt a work model focused on exclusive representation, and create strong networks and associations. This context is also an opportunity and a responsibility for strong brands in the field, which must focus primarily on an integrated system, constantly developing and sustaining office networks.

“The local real estate market is passing through its best period in the last decade and there are numerous opportunities. Although the real estate segment registered a decrease in the first quarter compared with the same period of last year, we are still up 25 percent compared to 2017 regarding the number of completed transactions. The industrial segment is going through a real boom, the office and retail segments offer steady yields and the investment market has stabilized at approximately EUR 1 billion. For 2019 we’ve set a turnover of approximately EUR 4 million and our objective for 2010 is to be among the five largest real estate consultants in Romania,” said Andrei Sarbu, CEO of SVN Romania.

The company is the recently opened local office of SVN International Corp, a well-known US brand in real estate consultancy, with 200 offices in eight countries and regions and over 1,600 consultants and staff.

“Romania presents the biggest potential in the region. For example, hundreds of properties are sold for over EUR 500,000 every year at national level, not only on the residential segment. And through a comparison with other states in Central and Eastern Europe we can observe that all the real estate segments still have significant growth potential,” said Rafal Noriega, international sales director at SVN International Corp.