Â鶹ӳ»­

International private equity funds and opportunity funds are helping to stir Romania's dormant real estate investment market, according to CBRE.

The global proeprty advisor's Romania Investment MarketView H1 2013 shows the transaction volume increased by 32% to €79 mln in the first six months compared to the same period of the previous year.

'The most active investors in the market are international private equity funds, opportunity funds and local private investors. The attractiveness of the market is influenced especially by a more stable macro-economic outlook, created by the 1.7 - 2.2% GDP increase and the inflation rate decrease to 3.1% estimated for this year,' said Razvan Iorgu, managing director CBRE Romania.

Only three transactions were made in Romania during January to end- June 2013. In the office market, the 24,000 m2 Lakeview building in northern Bucharest was purchased by NEPI. The other two transactions were registered in the commercial centres market: Mitiska Ventures - InterCora, consisting of eight small operating retail parks, with a cumulative area of 32,000 m2, in Bucharest and other cities, and the 36,500 m2 GTC portfolio, a shares transaction related to Galleria Piatra Neamt, Galleria Suceava and Galleria Buzau.

'The most traded properties in H1 2010 - H1 2013 were office buildings (42%), followed by commercial centres (40%) and industrial spaces (10%). The interest for office and retail spaces will continue to increase, taking into account the development of these sectors and the general appetite for such properties. By the end of this year, the total investment volume could reach the level in 2012 (over €200 mln), but it is very hard to repeat the levels in 2010-2011 (over €300 mln),' Iorgu said.

Prime yields in Romania and Bulgaria have been 1 percentage point higher than in Hungary or Slovakia. But in the first six months of the year, the yield for prime retail in Romania dropped from 8.75% to 8.5%, due to investors’ increasing interest. The prime yield in the industrial sector has increased from 10.25% to 10.5% due to the lack of transactions, while the yield for prime office spaces has remained stable at 8.25%.

The investment volume in CEE reached €4.5 bn in the first half of 2013, a 61% increase from the figures registered in the first six months of 2012.