National GDP constant growth and decrease of CPI. 2023 altogether for Romania is a year of economic growth, where the annual evolution of GDP indicates three years in a row on an exclusively upward trend.
Investment activity remained selective, with a focus on high-quality assets like Mitiska REIM's retail park portfolio, acquired by M Core in a landmark deal representing 44% of the year's volume and also the largest deal in the recent history of properties with retail use.
Record leasing activity for the Bucharest office market, close to half a million sq m. Modern office stock in Bucharest stands at the end of 2023 at 3.41 mln. sq m after adding 110,000 leasable sq m representing the total area of five buildings. The new supply was welcomed by the Center, Center-West, and North-West sub-markets.
Romania’s industrial stock overpassed the 7.0 mln. sq m threshold, coupled with an impressive amount of leased area, with only 11% lower than the 2022 total leasing activity – the record year for market players.
New supply nearly tripled from 2022 and 37% higher than 2019 - a benchmark year for the retail market. At the end of 2023, the modern retail stock in Romania reached 4.34 million sqm once new supply from 2023 was added, totaling approximately 251,000 sqm.
Over 100 hectares of development land plots were sold nationwide, mostly for residential, mixed–use and retail use.
"The steady growth of the national GDP, the decrease of the CPI inflation in the context of a year with multiple events at fiscal and political level, infuse a sentiment of consolidation and economic stability. Further inflation decreases, below two digits values, estimated at 6.3% in 2024 and 4.4% in 2025, narrows the differences between Romania and the Euro area to percentage points similar with the ones registered before the peak year 2022."
Daniela Gavril, Head of Research CBRE Romania
