The residential market kicked off 2024 with a strong start, with the first quarter ending with an 18% increase in the number of apartment transactions in Bucharest compared to the same period last year, according to Colliers data.

In the rest of the country, demand in the residential market marked even higher increases, at 19%. The intention to purchase remains high, noted Colliers consultants, explaining that the easing of financial markets will stimulate housing demand.

In cities or areas with fewer homes under construction in the near future, this will put pressure on prices. However, at least in the first part of this year, Colliers consultants anticipate a balance between supply and demand in the residential market," points out Gabriel Blăniță, Associate Director Valuation & Advisory Services at Colliers Romania.

Although a decrease in the number of homes delivered is forecasted for both this year and the next, in Bucharest, where sales levels in the first three months were about 18% higher than in the same period in 2023, the increase in demand will put pressure on prices in the medium term.

Among large cities, the most significant sales increases were recorded in Timișoara (24%). However, the main factor influencing this development is the base effect, given that in the previous year, sales in the first two months were extremely low due to rising financing costs.

In Cluj-Napoca, March did not replicate the pace of sales from the beginning of the year, but for the entire quarter, the evolution was similar to that in the capital, recording an 18% increase.

Given that Cluj leads the ranking with the most expensive residential market in the country, Colliers consultants believe that sales records from recent years will be more difficult to achieve for a good period of time, in the absence of an acceleration in the pace of new housing development.

In Iași, the number of transactions in the first quarter far exceeded past values, due to the completion of several large-scale developments in the first part of this year.

Even without the impact of these deliveries, the pace of sales in Iași is increasing compared to previous years, indicating an acceleration in the city's development pace. (Photo: Freepik)