Prime properties in the entire country continue to be attractive for the international investors as well as for the locals, being registered an increase of this interest on the commercial centres market.
„The most important investors on the market are the international private equity funds, the opportunity funds and the private local investors. The market’s attractiveness is mostly influenced by the macro-economic environment stabilization, which contributes to the GDP growth of 1.7 – 2.2% and to the stabilization of the inflation rate to 3.1% estimated for this year”, has declared Razvan Iorgu , general manager of CBRE Romania.
Only three transactions were made in Romania in the interval between January and June 2013. Therefore, on the office market, the prime A class office building Lakeview, in northern Bucharest, with an area of 24,000 sqm, was bought by NEPI.
On the commercial premises segment, the most important transaction is represented by Mitiska Ventures – InterCora, consisting in the acquisition of eight small operational retail parks with a total area of 32,000 sqm, in Bucharest and other cities. At the beginning of this year, GTC has signed an agreement for buying the shares owned by Aura Investments, the other partner of the development, for the Galleria retail projects (Suceava, Piatra-Neamt and Buzau).
„The biggest number of transactions in the period H1 2010 – H1 2013 was registered for the office buildings (42%), followed by the commercial centres (40%) and the industrial spaces (10%). The interest for the office buildings and commercial centres will continue to grow, considering the development of those segments and the increasing appetite for these assets. Therefore, the level in 2012 (over EUR 200 million) could be reached by the end of 2013, but the level in 2010 and 2011 (over EUR 300 million in each year) it is difficult to be reached”, Razvan Iorgu added.
Romania is one of the most attractive countries in CEE, together with Bulgaria, considering the transaction prices, having prime yields with one point bigger than Hungary and Slovakia. Therefore in the first six months of the year, the prime yield for the commercial centres in Romania has decreased to 8.5% from 8.75%, following the increase of the interest of the investors, the prime yield for the industrial segment has increased from 10.25% to 10.5%, on the background of the absence of the transactions, and the prime yield for the offices remained stable to 8.25%.
The investment volume in CEE reached EUR 4.5 billion in the first half of 2013, which represents an increase of 61% compared to the value registered in the first six months of 2012.
The request for plots with construction permit, where office buildings or commercial centres can develop remains strong but the number of the available lands is limited, as big part of them already was subject to transactions.
„The value of lands outside Bucharest will continue to decrease, considering that the sellers compete with distressed assets available on the market”, has explained Razvan Iorgu. (source: wall-street.ro)
