2007 was considered the best year for real estate players. We’ve seen the first frozen projects in 2008, together with price fallout for new housing units. Insiders see no positive signal for this year’s market trend. The first half will surely be tough, whereas things might settle down in second half.
Tim Wilkinson (photo), Managing Director of advisory company DTZ Echinox, says that this year will be marked by the attempt of real estate market to adjust to the effects triggered by the crisis.
“The market needs to be reviewed and this will happen in investment and land segments. I think the residential market will be the first to resume activity in first half of 2009, but we will surely witness a re-assessment of prices compared to 2007”, Tim Wilkinson told Wall-Street.
The quality will become a more important factor, and real estate market will recover gradually, sector by sector, whereas we will see a slowdown of activity in segments that were very active in 2008.
“We expect a slowdown of activities in office, retail and industrial”, said Wilkinson, stressing that he didn’t expect the market to be fully restored in first half of 2009.
Evelina Necula, Head of Marketing Department within DTZ Echinox said the developers who hadn’t yet completed their projects, but they would deliver them in first half of 2009, intend on framing the offer within the range that benefits of 5% VAT via surface reconfiguration.
“As for the commercial segment, the developers who put off the delivery date of projects endeavor to meet the new lending requirements of the banks.
Adrian Ghimpau, manager of residential department at Coldwell Banker Affiliates of Romania thinks the factors that could unclog the real estate market are: loosened lending conditions, a lineup of prices to real purchase power of buyers as well as messages broadcasted by the me
