New homes in Bucharest, half as many as last year

The number of new homes completed in Bucharest this year will
drop by around 50% against 2009, to 3,000-3,500 units, as a result
of the decline in the number of transactions, which led to many
projects being frozen, according to a ZF analysis based on
information supplied by real estate developers. This year will
mainly see small, around 200-apartment projects completed, which
were started as early as in 2008, where about half the apartments
are already sold. Some of the biggest projects that will deliver
apartments this year include UpGround (Pipera), Pallady Towers
(Titan), Vivenda (Basarabiei), Serena (Viilor) and Ten Blocks
(Militari). In the first nine months of last year 4,800 new homes
were completed in the Bucuresti-Ilfov area, according to data from
the National Statistics Institute. The overall number of homes
completed in 2009 is very likely to be much higher, considering
that a large part of the big projects (Asmita, Doamna Ghica Plaza,
Rasarit de Soare) were completed in the last few months of the
year. Prices fell by an average 10-20% last year and are now
ranging between 900 and 1,800 euros/built square metre for most
projects. The biggest project whose completion is scheduled for
this year is the UpGround in Pipera, which includes 600 homes.
According to the latest information, the Greek developers had sold
half the homes by December 2009, with deliveries set to begin in
August.