In an interview with the international publication bne IntelliNews, Victor Căpitanu has discussed the local real estate market and described Romania as a "hidden gem" attracting increased investor interest as its capital market evolves.
“Romania is a country in the development stage. It is different from most of Central and Eastern Europe in that the market is less developed and started later. If you look at the stock of apartments, most were built during communism or in the years [immediately] afterwards, also without too much expertise,” he told Clare Nuttall from bne IntelliNews. "The real estate industry started to form and grow only in the last 20 years. Although we are a young company we started more or less at the beginning of this sector in this market." In fact, One United Properties is capitalising on the burgeoning demand for both residential and office space in a market that has long been underserved.
The company's co-founder and CEO has pointed out that there is a strong demand these days for residential real estate, as people just want to live in a better apartment, with nice design and easily accessible facilities, yet supply lags behind. And there’s a similar situation in the office segment, where he also pointed to a shortage of quality space, combined with strong demand. "I know some markets in Western Europe and especially the US are suffering in the office sector because of oversupply. But in Romania there is no oversupply, there is undersupply, especially of quality stock. There are many companies that are moving operations from other parts of Europe to Romania, and they need quality buildings — so we need to build them",
he says.
As robust growth is expected for the economy as a whole, according to both Romania’s government and international financial institutions (IFIs), Romania grows to be an attractive investment destination. This year, the country is expected to be one of the fastest-growing economies in the EU. Victor Căpitanu expressed his confidence in the development of the local capital market:
"I think why we listed in first place was also because we saw growth potential in the market, and the potential upgrade to an Emerging Market by MSCI. The market improved dramatically after the listing of Hidroelectrica. A lot of companies want to follow the successful example of Hidroelectrica, which was one of the largest IPOs in the world last year. There is a positive momentum for the stock exchange."
Overall, the co-founder of One United Properties believes Romania has strong prospects because of its underdeveloped potential.
"We think Romania is the largest Emerging Market opportunity in Europe, where most countries are already very developed, so there is less opportunity. Romania, in a way, is a hidden gem because it’s the largest undeveloped opportunity in Europe."
