As global economic uncertainty, technological disruption and changing occupier behaviour reshape the real estate landscape, senior executives from Romania’s leading developers, consultants and industry professionals shared their perspectives with CIJ EUROPE on the defining challenges facing both the office and residential sectors.
Their responses reveal an industry that is moving beyond simple market cycles toward a far more selective environment, where quality, adaptability and long-term value increasingly determine success.
The Office Market: A Story of Selection, Not Decline
One of the central questions discussed by CIJ EUROPE was whether the industry is honestly underwriting future office demand, particularly as artificial intelligence, hybrid working and workforce optimisation continue to reshape occupier behaviour.
Adinel Tudor, CEO, EVO Properties
Adinel Tudor believes the market should stop treating office demand as a single indicator.
According to Tudor, those still forecasting office absorption using pre-2020 assumptions are ignoring structural changes that have permanently altered workplace requirements. Employee density has increased, hybrid work has become part of normal business operations and artificial intelligence is expected to reduce some traditional office employment over the coming years.
However, he argues that Bucharest demonstrates why simplistic vacancy statistics can be misleading. While the city reports approximately 12 percent overall vacancy, prime CBD assets operate with vacancy levels close to 3 percent, whereas weaker buildings can exceed 30 percent.
“The demand isn’t disappearing,” Tudor explains. “It’s sorting.”
Rather than fearing declining demand, developers should focus on whether their specific buildings remain competitive.
This philosophy has driven EVO Properties’ strategy of investing heavily in repositioning its London & Oslo Office Buildings into highly flexible, multifunctional workplaces featuring renewable energy systems, integrated fitness facilities and mobility-on-demand services rather than relying on traditional leasing assumptions.
Tudor also believes AI creates both opportunities and risks. While automation may reduce some back-office functions, it simultaneously increases the value of collaboration, company culture and human interaction—qualities that continue to favour well-designed offices.
His conclusion is straightforward: the question is no longer whether the office market survives, but which individual buildings will remain relevant.
Office Rents: Looking Beyond Headline Figures
CIJ EUROPE also asked whether office rents are genuinely increasing or whether landlords are quietly supporting occupancy through generous incentives.
Tudor argues that headline rents often conceal the true economics of leasing.
“The headline rent is what you tell the market; the effective rent is what you tell your banker,” he says.
He believes premium buildings in successful sub-markets increasingly require fewer incentives due to limited new supply, while struggling secondary assets continue offering significant concessions simply to maintain occupancy.
In his view, there are effectively two separate office markets operating simultaneously.
Valentin Neagu, Managing Director, Crosspoint Real Estate
Valentin Neagu believes the market risks underestimating the cumulative effect of several structural pressures rather than focusing on any single challenge.
Although financing remains selective and construction costs unpredictable, he believes the larger issue concerns whether today’s developments will remain relevant to tomorrow’s occupiers.
Prime offices continue attracting demand, but occupiers have become considerably more disciplined, evaluating utilisation rates, flexibility, ESG performance and collaboration space instead of simply calculating desks per employee.
Neagu believes developers can no longer rely on assumptions that prevailed before the pandemic.
“The greatest risk lies with secondary stock,” he explains, suggesting that expecting weaker buildings to return to historical occupancy levels may prove unrealistic.
When asked what currently delays office development most, Neagu identifies uncertainty surrounding long-term occupier demand as the critical issue because it directly influences financing, pricing and future investment liquidity.
Residential Real Estate: Marketing Versus Lasting Value
The premium residential sector increasingly promotes wellness, community and lifestyle, but CIJ EUROPE asked whether these concepts genuinely create long-term value or simply represent more sophisticated marketing.
Răzvan Brașla, CEO, Cloud9
Răzvan Brașla believes buyers have become far more sophisticated and increasingly distinguish between branding and genuine functionality.
While amenities such as gyms, cafés and landscaped spaces receive considerable marketing attention, he argues they only become meaningful when integrated into a broader ecosystem that genuinely improves daily life.
For Cloud9 Evolution, this means combining housing with education, retail, services and accessible public spaces that reduce commuting and simplify residents’ routines.
Brașla says buyers increasingly evaluate projects based on how well they will function five or ten years after delivery rather than how impressive they appear during launch.
He believes Romania’s premium market is maturing, shifting away from luxury defined primarily by finishes and prestigious addresses toward integrated communities supported by strong operational quality and trusted developers.
Ultimately, marketing may generate initial interest, but resident satisfaction determines whether projects retain value over time.
Vlad Musteata, CEO, North Bucharest Investments
Vlad Musteata shares a similar perspective, arguing that marketing can only highlight value—it cannot create it.
For him, long-term value remains anchored in location, infrastructure, construction quality and a project’s ability to remain desirable over the next decade or more.
Concepts such as wellness and community have become standard buyer expectations rather than competitive differentiators.
They only become meaningful when embedded into urban planning through green spaces, mixed-use facilities and services that residents genuinely use.
Musteata believes the ultimate test comes after completion.
“If residents stay, demand remains strong and the asset continues appreciating, then it is value—not marketing.”
He adds that the market ultimately corrects itself, rewarding projects built on substance while exposing developments that rely primarily on promotional messaging.
Andreea-Maria Dumitru, Chief Marketing Officer, Hagag
For Andreea-Maria Dumitru, the distinction between marketing and genuine value becomes obvious only after residents move into a project.
Marketing can successfully communicate a vision, she says, but only everyday living validates that promise.
She believes premium buyers increasingly prioritise invisible qualities over visible luxury. Operational excellence, efficient layouts, energy performance, professional property management and seamless technology now matter more than superficial displays of luxury.
Wellness features, community spaces and landscaping only create lasting value when they genuinely improve comfort, privacy and quality of life over many years.
According to Dumitru, emotional branding remains important in luxury residential development, but long-term credibility depends entirely on execution.
Housing Demand: Structural Support Despite Short-Term Headwinds
CIJ EUROPE also explored whether recent market uncertainty signals a lasting slowdown in Romania’s residential sector.
Bogdan Letcă, CEO, Bog’Art Residential
Bogdan Letcă cautions against drawing long-term conclusions based solely on recent market conditions.
Although inflation, higher financing costs, VAT increases and political uncertainty have temporarily weakened buyer confidence, he believes these challenges should be viewed within the context of a decade of steadily improving housing affordability.
He also points to significant growth in household savings through bank deposits and government bonds, indicating that many potential buyers remain financially capable despite delaying purchasing decisions.
Meanwhile, the continued slowdown in planning approvals and building permits—particularly across Bucharest and Ilfov—is likely to reduce future housing supply.
Combined with consistent life-stage demand driven by marriage, family formation and changing lifestyles, Letcă expects the market to remain fundamentally supported.
He also observes increasing residential migration toward Bucharest’s outer districts, where affordability remains stronger.
Given Bucharest’s economic performance and leading GDP per capita among European capitals, he views the current market as experiencing a temporary adjustment rather than entering structural decline.
Simona Guțiu, Equity Notarial Office
Simona Guțiu also believes Romanian homeownership demand remains fundamentally resilient despite slowing market momentum.
While the pace of new ownership may moderate, she argues that Romanians continue viewing property ownership as one of the safest forms of financial security.
Historical experience, combined with current political, financial and geopolitical uncertainty, reinforces the desire for permanent homeownership.
She also notes that Bucharest remains relatively affordable compared with many other European capitals.
Looking ahead, Guțiu highlights proposed legislation introducing an 11 percent reduced VAT rate for eligible first-time buyers under the age of 35 purchasing qualifying new homes, subject to value limits, ownership conditions and minimum holding periods.
If implemented, such measures could further support entry-level residential demand.
A More Selective Market Emerges
Across both office and residential sectors, one theme consistently emerged throughout the CIJ EUROPE discussion: real estate is becoming significantly more selective.
Whether discussing office leasing, residential communities or investment strategy, the panel agreed that success increasingly depends on long-term quality rather than short-term market momentum.
For offices, the future belongs to adaptable, high-performing buildings capable of supporting collaboration, sustainability and changing workplace patterns.
For residential development, lasting value will increasingly be measured not by marketing campaigns or amenity lists, but by the quality of everyday living, operational excellence and sustained demand years after completion.
In both sectors, the market appears to be moving away from broad assumptions toward far greater differentiation, rewarding projects that genuinely deliver long-term value while exposing those unable to evolve with changing occupier and buyer expectations.
© CIJ EUROPE
