10 times fewer apartments built now than in Communist times

Almost three million apartments were built in Romania from 1951 to 1989, which accounts for the bulk of the total housing. “The apartment production line” set in motion by the communist regime churned out an average 205 apartments a day, up to 30% of which in Bucharest alone. The Capital saw at least 27,000 apartments being built each year from the ’50s until ’89, out of a national average of 75,000 apartments, i.e. a rate of 74 apartments a day, compared with 2,500 homes a year currently, i.e. around 7 apartments or houses a day. The communist state spent at least 1.1 billion euros a year for the construction of the “matchbox apartments” in Bucharest, a value calculated based on a current construction cost of 600 euros per square metre and on an average built area of 70 square metres per apartment. The market value of the apartments in Bucharest could climb to at least 3 billion euros per year. Currently, the Capital sees around 2,500 housing units being built a year, apartments and villas included, with the rate to rise to 5,000 homes by 2009.