Romanians pushed out of housing market
Foreign investors may be pricing Romanians out of their own housing market.
Bucharest Estate Agent Cezar Giuvelic said: “The price of property has boomed over the past 5 years, it’s constantly getting higher. People could buy to begin with but now the situation is getting desperate.”
Recent research by British Estate Agent Savills found that foreigners are buying a majority of Britain’s most expensive properties, and a similar story could soon be true in Romania.
In January this year a study by MRI Overseas study found that one in seven Britons was considering buying property in Romania or Bulgaria.
Property investor Martin Ledger from Kent is one of those foreigners who has dipped into Romanian real estate.
“The EU is pumping money in and people like me are pushing the prices up and making it more difficult for Romanian’s to buy,” he said.
Mr Ledger bought a one bedroom apartment in Bucharest 4 years ago for £9,000 and it’s now been valued at between £40,000 and £50,000.
In February he bought his second property in the picturesque mountain resort of Sinaia and he’s already made a 25% profit on it.
Mr Giuvelic said: “Two years ago foreign investors came to Romania and sellers tried to benefit by putting prices up above reasonable prices... they are setting their own prices.”
Click below to hear Romanian's own experiences on their booming property market.
