Sunday, 1 February 2026
The volume of land transactions in Bucharest fell by 13.4% in 2025 compared with the previous year, marking the lowest level recorded in the past seven years, according to data compiled by Crosspoint Real Estate, the international associate of Savills in Romania.
The decline reflects a combination of factors, including the increasingly limited availability of land within the city and rising development costs. Another key driver has been the maturation of the residential sector, which remains the main source of demand for land in Bucharest. This shift is also evident in the residential sales market, where volumes have stabilised since 2024 following a peak in late 2023, pointing to demand driven more by end users than by speculative investment or low-cost financing.
According to Crosspoint, recent data indicate that the residential market has become more selective. “The market is no longer characterised by speculative volumes,” said Ionuț Stan, Partner and Head of Land Development at Crosspoint Real Estate. He noted that developers are increasingly competing for well-located plots that can support pricing acceptable to more informed buyers, reflecting a transition towards a replacement and upgrade market with greater long-term stability.
Crosspoint’s analysis shows that enthusiasm for apartment purchases eased in the second half of 2025, reinforcing the trend toward market maturity. As a result, developers are placing greater emphasis on product quality, which in turn has increased the importance of land characteristics such as location, planning status and surrounding infrastructure.
Ilinca Timofte, Head of Research at Crosspoint Real Estate, said that many of the larger land transactions in 2025 involved smaller plots than in previous years, but were concentrated in key areas of Bucharest. In some central locations, land prices per square metre reached record levels, reflecting strong competition for scarce, well-positioned sites.
One of the notable transactions illustrating this trend was the acquisition by Cordia Romania of an 8,179 sq m plot near Bucharest Mall and Alba Iulia Square, completed in September 2025. The land was acquired from Bog’Art Place and already benefited from an approved building permit. Cordia has since begun construction of the Centropolitan project, which will include 274 apartments and 3,345 sq m of retail space.
Crosspoint advised Cordia on the transaction, which ranks among the largest land deals recorded on the Romanian market in 2025. According to Mihai Dumitrescu, co-founder of Crosspoint Real Estate, the deal highlights developers’ preference for plots with established urban planning documentation, proximity to public transport and access to key services. He added that Crosspoint’s total land transaction portfolio in 2025 amounted to approximately 100,000 sq m.
Looking ahead, Crosspoint expects that higher land prices, limited availability of plots with approved planning documentation and increased taxation on residential properties held by commercial entities will reduce the attractiveness of apartments as pure investment products. In the medium term, this is likely to encourage a more cautious approach among residential developers and extend the time required to secure suitable land, as acquisition costs need to align more closely with current market conditions.
