Real estate deals closed in first nine months this year exceeded one billion euros, biggest transaction being forward-purchase agreement of 340 million euros. Big transactions started in 2007, and the overall value is nearly 50% lower than last year’s similar interval.
Subprime crisis led players into standby mode on the local real estate market, and banks have restricted their lending conditions, this being a period marked by negotiations. In the actual market conditions, those who will cope best with the gloomy conditions are buyers who will bet on the capital they hold.
“There have been many negotiations in this direction and their course was extremely difficult. You would start negotiations and you had a well-settled plan, but meanwhile, the market altered, and at the end of negotiations, the offer would change. At that time, landlords refused and re-launched the product on the market trying to sell it”, said Georgiana Anghelus, consultant at Colliers International.
According to her, overall value of closed deals in first nine months this year slid 50% compared to value of deals closed in the same interval last year, the decline being caused by subprime crisis.
“Negotiations ‘evolution was hardened and lasted more. Furthermore, outturns were bigger, as people signaled the downshift of the market. Most of the deals closed this year started last year, because if they would have started in 2008 they hadn’t been completed by now or had had one-year delays,” Colliers’ specialist added.
It is less likely to witness any other transactions completed by yearend, as a part of the players were feared and entered standby mode waiting for a write-off of yields.
“Those who chose to wait experienced difficult borrowing procedures. If they started a forward-purchase deal, banks would not fund them, unless the project was 60% leased,” Georgiana
