More homes delivered in Ilfov than in Bucharest

Bucharest continues to expand outwards, as the inner city gets ever more crowded by the day. More than 19,000 homes were built in Ilfov county (which surrounds Bucharest) in the first three quarters of 2007, while in the capital the supply increased by around 13,000 homes, reveal National Statistics Institute (INS) data, cited by real estate consulting company Atisreal Romania, part of French bank BNP Paribas. Considering the residential supply in Bucharest stood at about 785,000 housing units at the end of 2006, the 13,000 homes delivered account for an increase of less than 2%, while the increase of housing in Ilfov county stood at nearly 20%, taking into account the already existing 108,000 homes at the end of 2006. This information reveals Bucharest’s trend of developing outwards as the inner city becomes more and more crowded, where land is growing scarce and expensive. As a result, residential projects are primarily being developed in towns outside Bucharest, where large plots are available at much lower prices than in the Capital. However, projects that involve thousands of homes are also planned on former industrial sites in Bucharest, which have been taken over by real estate investors who are feeling pressured by the high prices they paid for this land.