In real estate investment, yields reflect how risky or attractive a market is perceived to be. As risk declines and competition for assets increases, yields tend to fall and prices rise. From this perspective, Romania’s move from yields above 20% in the early years of the market to single-digit levels today shows how much investor perceptions have changed over the past 30 years.
In the 1990s, the market was still at an early stage. There were very few modern office buildings, shopping centres or logistics properties that could be acquired as investment assets, and most transactions involved land, companies or buildings purchased for owner occupation. An important milestone came in 2003, when Opera Center and Europe House were sold to Austrian funds CA Immo and Europolis at yields of around 12.5%. These transactions put Romania on the radar of institutional investors.
Until then, the market had been dominated by a small number of private investors, including Israeli groups, which were acquiring smaller office buildings at yields of 18-22%. These very high levels reflected the degree of risk investors associated with Romania at the time. Within just a few years, however, economic growth and the country’s approaching accession to the European Union changed that perception and attracted increasing volumes of foreign capital.
” If we compare the market of 30 years ago with the one we see today, the difference is enormous. Back then, there were few properties suitable for large-scale investment. Today, we see transactions worth hundreds of millions of euros, domestic investors capable of acquiring sizable portfolios and a market that has gone through several crises and growth cycles without returning to the fragility of its early years. That shows just how much the market has matured”, says Robert Miklo, Partner, Head of Capital Markets at Colliers.
From double-digit yields to the 2007 boom
Between 2004 and 2006, the market expanded rapidly. Transaction volumes reached around 850 million euros in 2006, while Austrian investors, among the first active players in Romania, were joined by investors from the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Australia. Also in 2006, Immoeast acquired Polus Center Cluj for more than 200 million euros, the first Romanian real estate transaction to exceed this threshold. At the time, offices attracted most investor interest, while logistics remained an almost overlooked segment.
Romania’s accession to the European Union accelerated the market further. In 2007, transaction volumes reached around 1.5 billion euros, a level the market has not reached again since. That same year, America House was sold to Natixis for 120 million euros at a yield of 5.5%, the lowest recorded in Romania up to that point and, at the time, a minimum for the entire CEE region. The fall in yields from double-digit levels to 5.5% within only a few years shows how quickly investor perceptions of the local market changed. The 5.5% yield has not been matched in Romania since.
The global financial crisis changed the market abruptly. In 2009, transaction volumes fell to around 100 million euros, a fraction of the 2007 peak. Buyers did not simply disappear, but sellers and buyers now had very different views of asset values. As a result, many transactions failed to close and the market remained largely frozen for several years.
The crisis years also changed the investor profile. Buyers emerged who were willing to acquire assets at lower prices, while players such as NEPI used the period to build significant portfolios. The market that came out of the crisis was better capitalised, supported by investors with a longer-term outlook and less dependent on capital that entered and left Romania quickly in response to external conditions.
Domestic investors have become key players in the market
From 2014 onwards, the market entered a more stable phase. Transaction volumes once again approached 1 billion euros, and in the following years activity generally stayed between approximately 650 and 900 million euros annually. The key difference compared with the 2007 boom was the structure of the investor base. For the first time, Romania developed a stable base of domestic and regional capital able to support transactions even when Western investor appetite declined, which made the market less vulnerable to sudden changes in external sentiment.
The market also matured beyond offices and retail. In 2018, Europolis Park, one of the most important logistics projects near Bucharest, was sold for approximately 200 million euros, setting a new benchmark for the industrial and logistics sector.
A symbolic milestone came in 2022, when the market recorded transaction volumes of around 1.25 billion euros, the strongest year since the global financial crisis. The largest transaction was the sale of the CA Immo portfolio to Paval Holding for 377 million euros, the largest real estate transaction ever completed in Romania. While the records of the 2000s had been set by international capital, this deal showed that Romanian investors could now acquire assets on a scale comparable to those targeted by major international funds.
” One of the biggest changes is that we now have much more domestic and regional capital in the market. We are no longer as dependent on decisions taken by investors in Europe’s major financial centres. Romanian investors can now support large transactions and, in many cases, take a long-term view of these assets. This makes the market more stable and gives it a stronger foundation when external conditions change”, says Robert Miklo.
The pandemic was an important test for the market. Although the first months of 2020 brought considerable uncertainty and delayed some decisions, the year ended with transaction volumes close to 900 million euros. The largest transaction was AFI Europe’s acquisition of NEPI Rockcastle’s office portfolio for 307 million euros, one of the largest office deals ever completed in the local market.
The pandemic also changed what investors were looking for. Industrial and logistics properties, long considered less attractive than offices or retail, became some of the most sought-after assets, supported by the growth of e-commerce and the need for more resilient supply chains. At the same time, investors became more selective with office buildings and shopping centres, drawing a much clearer line between high-quality properties and assets with weaker prospects.
A more mature market, but still more competitively priced than Central Europe
The rise in interest rates in 2022-2023 brought another test. More expensive financing put pressure on pricing, and transaction volumes fell to around 500 million euros in 2023 before recovering to almost 700 million euros in 2024. Unlike in 2009, however, there were no real concerns about asset quality or about the market as a whole. Rents remained stable or increased across most sectors, and the adjustment was mainly one of pricing, as buyers and sellers adapted to higher financing costs.
In 2025, the market began to stabilize as the gap between sellers’ asking prices and buyers’ offers narrowed. One encouraging sign is that the two largest office transactions completed that year involved investors making their first acquisition in Romania, showing that the market continues to attract new capital. The momentum carried into 2026: transaction volumes came close to 700 million euros in the first three quarters, and the market has a real chance of passing the 1 billion euro mark again by the end of the year.
Romania also remains more competitively priced than the more mature markets in the region. Yields are still higher than in Central and Western Europe, meaning investors can generate higher income relative to the price paid for an asset. The gap with Western Europe is currently around 3-4 percentage points, and Romania also continues to offer higher yields than Poland or the Czech Republic. Before the pandemic, for example, prime office yields in Romania were around 150-250 basis points above those in Warsaw or Prague, a gap that reflects both the difference in perceived risk and the potential for convergence.
Looking ahead, Colliers consultants expect the market to become more balanced across the main property sectors. Industrial and logistics assets now hold a firm place in investor portfolios, while offices and retail remain important. The investor base is also more diverse than in the past. Domestic and regional capital has a much stronger presence, Western European investors are showing renewed interest, and interest from Asia and the Middle East is growing.
After three decades, Romania’s real estate investment market looks very different from where it started. A segment with almost no institutional-grade product has become a market capable of supporting individual transactions approaching 400 million euros and annual volumes above 1 billion euros in peak years. It remains smaller than the markets of Poland or the Czech Republic and can still be swayed by a handful of large deals, but it now has more investors, a stronger base of domestic capital and a greater capacity to get through difficult periods without coming to a standstill. The next stage should bring gradual convergence with the more mature markets in the region, supported by higher transaction volumes, a broader investor base and pricing closer to Central European levels.
” Retail tells the story of this market well. In 2006, Polus Center Cluj became the first Romanian transaction above 200 million euros. Twenty years later, investors are once again looking closely at retail, but with very different criteria. Since the pandemic, buyers no longer treat retail as one category. Dominant shopping centres and well-located retail parks with stable footfall and sustainable rents attract strong interest, including from domestic investors, while weaker assets are priced very differently. This selectivity is a sign of a mature market that has seen more and more liquidity in the last 5 years, culminating in 2026 with the largest retail transaction to date, worth around 300 million euros”, says Simina Niculiță, Director, Capital Markets, and Head of Retail at Colliers.
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