The first 100 million-euro transaction since March 2008, the revival of lorry sales and the fact that exports continued their 28% growth rate are signals that the economy can return to growth in 2011.
The real estate market, corporate lending and even the stock
exchange, by announcing future listings, are showing the first
signals that the Romanian economy is trying to pick itself up after
two years of recession, primarily with the aid of exports, amid the
recovery of economies in the euro zone.
The last transaction worth over 100 million euros was sealed in
Romania in March 2008. At the end of last week, a group of South
African investors and UK’s Robert Neale struck a deal in Bucharest
for the purchase of Floreasca Business Park in northern Bucharest,
an over 100 million-euro deal struck just three weeks after Auchan
and two Belgian investors paid over 30 million euros for 12
hectares of land at Electroputere Craiova.
What does this mean? There is still money for real estate
investments and some foreign investors see a business potential in
Romania and expect a return to economic growth. Is this another
“fata morgana” or are these the “first seagulls” signalling that
the shore is close, as lawyer Ion Nestor recently wondered in an
interview to ZF?
Blake Horsley, manager of the investments department of Colliers,
which acted as a consultant in the Floreasca Business Park
transaction, does not provide details on the deal concluded last
week, but says “Over the next 12 months we will see more
transactions involving quality properties at more competitive
prices for sellers. (…) There is an opinion on the market,
according to which 2011 could see Romania become a target for
investors who will buy interesting assets for specialised real
estate funds, which are as yet absent from the market, but which
will come later.