In an article this month Capital magazine conducted a real estate top regarding luxury residential compounds in Bucharest. The residential market increases with about 10,000 new homes in the Romanian Capital every year. An extremely small percentage of them, around 2%, belongs to the luxury segment. However, this value exceeds 10% of Bucharest's annual apartment sales.
It is expected that over 14,000 new homes will be delivered in Bucharest and its surroundings this year, this being a peak in the modern history of this economic sector, according to a study by Coldwell Banker, a real estate consultant. Approximately 51.5% of the offer is addressed to the mass market segment. Dwellings for the middle class of the population represent 46.3% of the total forecasted, according to Coldwell Banker calculations, while the remaining 2.2% refers to the luxury housing market.
One United Properties, the leading developer of premium residential compounds and office buildings in Bucharest, founded by entrepreneurs Victor Capitan and Andrei Diaconescu, is the one that dominates the luxury apartments niche. Over the past two years, the company has sold 150 luxury apartments per year. Only in 2017 the company raised about 50 million euros from such sales, and the three most expensive apartments sold in the first half of this year on the Bucharest market are located in three of the company’s projects.
The three most expensive apartments sold by One United Properties in the first semester of 2018 are penthouses located in One Herăstrău Park, One Herăstrău Plaza and One Charles de Gaulle. Their total value exceeds 6.2 million euros:
The most expensive property sold this year is a penthouse located in One Herăstrău Park; it has a breathtaking view and was sold for 2.7 million euros.
One Charles de Gaulle penthouse in the center of the city, built on two floors, with living room, kitchen, four bedrooms and three terraces. It was sold for 2.2 million euros.
One Herăstrău Plaza penthouse, with an area of 294 square meters built and a panoramic view over the park. It was sold for 1.36 million euros.
In the same article of Capital magazine Beatrice Dumitrașcu, VP Sales Manager for One United Properties, explains:
“Our clients are people who afford to buy in five staggered installments, without resorting to credit, at least one two-room apartments that can cost up to 150,000 euros plus VAT. And there are also the investors who prefer to buy an apartment and rent it as an alternative to the bank deposit. Rents on the luxury area vary a lot. While a studio can be rented for 900 euros/month, you can get to pay 7,500 euros/month for a penthouse. Even though last year it was rumored that the residential market is approaching a new crisis, I believe instead in a constantly growing market, I believe in price correction, not in a market crash. There is not enough housing to satisfy demand, especially in the luxury segment, that has not been made the best of so far.”
Full article here (RO).
