Building blocks
Foreigners aren't the only benefactors of the Romanian housing boom.
Citizens with sufficient funds have also been buying in.
Maria Haiduc’s family's apartment was re-possessed in 2005 by the people who owned it before the communist era.
Her family were fortunate enough to find the money and the land to build on before the prime locations disappeared and the prices shot up.
Click below to hear her story:
The high increase in value of Maria's land may not affect her as she has no intention of moving.
However, others are buying to sell and rocketing prices have made it even tougher for those who were already struggling to break into the market.
Despite her position as Deputy Editor of a regional newspaper, Anca Spânu Tudor is in no position to buy: “For young people it’s too expensive to buy housing. I’m nearly 31. My policeman husband and I have been married for 5 years but still live with our parents.
"It’s impossible to buy a house, I don’t imagine I’ll be able to afford one until I turn 40. That’s the way things are.”
