Prices of land around Bucharest are witnessing spectacular increases as a result of the rising interest of developers of housing complexes, so that in some cases trading values even double or triple during a relatively short period of time.
An analysis based on the data collected by ZF shows that more than 8,000 houses, villas and apartments, are under construction in localities surrounding Bucharest, both in the northern area, Otopeni or Tunari, as well as in other areas, such as Bragadiru or Jilava.
"There are price margins depending on area, but it is clear that at the moment a residential project emerges, the price of land in the vicinity can double or even triple," states Carmen David, general manager at Contempo real estate agency.
Vlad Vlasceanu, managing director of Admedia Consultanta, the organiser of the National Real Estate Fair, tIMOn, is of the same opinion.
The impact of these developments is obvious, even though part of consultants foresee a less spectacular price increase given the high values at which land is traded.
Thus, in a first phase land prices rise by around 25-30% right after a new housing project is announced in a new area, considers Cristina Rosca, manager of the corporate & apartments department of RealTime Imobiliar agency.
How willing are Bucharest inhabitants to move away from centres of interest given the heavy traffic in any part of the city? Given Bucharest's high congestion level, space distances are getting less important. "We've got to the phase where distances are mainly measured in time and not necessarily kilometres," says RealTime's Rosca.
Taking this aspect into account, office projects are also concentrated in the northern area of the city, close to housing developments.
"In the following years, the metropolitan area of Bucharest will expand at a very fast rate owing to inves
