The price per square metre in the Capital has risen by 27% in the first half of the year, reaching 1,564 euros, according to research by ZIARUL FINANCIAR, based on the ads published in the biggest such publication in Romania, anuntul.ro. The research was conducted on three-room flats built between 1980 and 1990. Thus, a three-room flat moderately close to the centre has risen in price from 80,000-90,000 euros to 110,000-120,000 euros.
The increase could be seen as early as the beginning of the year, due to a modification of the Fiscal Code, so that the average price per square metre went up by some 4% since late December.
"Under the new fiscal code, the tax the buyer paid was transferred to the owner," said Gabriel Dragomir, senior broker with the Indoors Real Estate Group agency, whose business reached about 120,000 euros last year.
A tax is now levied on the sale of a flat as of January 1, 2007, if the flat in question was bought less than three years before the sale.
Other reasons that drove prices up are the integration into the European Union, the appreciation of the RON against the euro and the relaxation of the lending policies.
The representatives of the real estate agencies say that the biggest growth was recorded for the three-room flats.
"According to the data we analysed in Titan, Balta Alba and Dristor districts, the price of the studios went up 13%, the price of the two-room flats rose by 16%, while three-room and four-room flats became 24% and 22% more expensive. Prices increased the most for three-room flats because people are starting to go by the surface area and the price per square metre is generally lower for larger flats," Dragomir added.
For instance, a 30 square metre studio in Dristor costs at least 50,000 euros, according to the anuntul.ro website, so that the price per square metre exceeds 1,600
