• CBRE Romania highlights in its latest report a sustained demand for office, retail, and industrial spaces, leading to a visible drop in vacancy rates over the past year.

Demand for office, retail, and industrial spaces continued to grow significantly in the first half of 2025, driving visible declines in vacancy rates and marking a stage of maturity for the Romanian real estate market.

In Bucharest’s office sector, a recalibration process is underway, with demand increasingly focused on central locations and sustainable projects. The stock of available space is decreasing, and the vacancy rate for new Class A buildings has fallen to 10.2%.

The “hidden vacancy” phenomenon—spaces currently occupied by tenants but available for sublease—has dropped by 40% compared to last year, showing a reduced impact on the market.

Coupled with the absence of major recent deliveries, the dominant demand is focusing on premium spaces in central areas.

„Bucharest’s office market is entering a new cycle defined by quality, scarcity, and long-term resilience. With no significant new deliveries expected in the near term and vacancy rates tightening further, particularly in central submarkets, competition for high-quality space is set to intensify. Occupiers are expected to accelerate transitions toward efficient, ESG-compliant workplaces, reinforcing the ongoing flight to quality and sustained demand from mid-sized and financially stable corporate tenants. Supported by solid tenant demand, constrained new supply, and continued investor interest, market fundamentals remain well positioned to drive performance forward”, says Tudor Ionescu, Head of Leasing Office, CBRE Romania.

The commercial space stock reached 4.7 million sqm, with an additional 78,000 sqm currently under construction and expected for delivery in H2 2025. Total forecasted deliveries for this year will reach 195,000 sqm, up 15% year-on-year, confirming increased development activity.

Although shopping centers still hold the largest share of the stock (almost 70%), the retail park sector has tripled in size over the past decade, surpassing 1 million sqm. In the coming period, eight medium-sized retail parks (46,700 sqm GLA) are set for delivery, mainly in tertiary cities where limited access to modern shopping spaces is fueling local demand.

At the same time, CBRE notes high occupancy in existing projects, supported by a clear revival of consumer interest in physical stores and shopping centers. The number of new retailers entering the CEE market in 2024 hit a record 99 brands, up 40% year-on-year. Shopping centers are the preferred choice for 60% of them, followed by high streets. Alongside Romania, the main targeted countries remain the Czech Republic and Poland.

„ The Romanian retail market is marked by robust development activity & growing investor appetite. We’re seeing a clear acceleration in supply, particularly in regional cities, with retail parks remaining the preferred format. Occupiers continue to diversify their footprint, seeking both operational efficiency and strong catchment performance, with a notable entry from Sports Direct. Investor sentiment is also gaining momentum, with retail accounting for 44% of Romania’s total investment volume in H1 2025. Retail in Romania is no longer just recovering - it’s repositioning for long-term, sustainable growth”, says Carmen Ravon​, Head of Retail CEE & Romania, CBRE Romania.

In the industrial sector, Romania reached a new record with a 8 million sqm stock of industrial and logistics spaces. In Q2 2025, total leasing activity hit 452,600 sqm, up 11% from last year. Although H1 results are slightly below the historic highs of 2022 and 2023, the strong Q2 momentum points to a high-performance year ahead. Nationwide, 77 transactions were closed, 12 of which exceeded 10,000 sqm, with an average leased area of around 5,900 sqm.

Bucharest accounted for 66% of the 452,600 sqm transacted nationally in H1 2025—16 percentage points above the five-year average—reinforcing its position as the leading region for Romania’s industrial and logistics sector. The trend is supported by ongoing infrastructure improvements, such as the opening of the southern segment of the A0 motorway, enabling uninterrupted transit on the Curtea de Argeș–Constanța route.

„ In essence, 2025 marks a pivotal moment where industrial and logistics leaders must embrace systemic transformation, prioritize data-driven resilience, integrate sustainability as a core strategic advantage. Moreover, for the first time in history from Constanta to Craiova, trucks can pass the road entirely on highway, bringing the total number of km in operation to over 1,300 and another 740 km in active execution. The changes to be brought to the Romanian I&L market are going to be seen in coming months and years”, says Răzvan Iorgu​, Head of Leasing Industrial & Logistics, CBRE Romania.

As a general tendency, CBRE Romania reports that the Romanian commercial real estate market is entering a consolidation phase, marked by sustained demand, falling vacancy rates, and intensified investments across all major sectors, alongside heightened investor appetite. Against this backdrop, the outlook for 2025 and the coming years remains optimistic.

About CBRE Group, Inc.

CBRE, Inc. (NYSE: CBRE), a Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company headquartered in Dallas, is the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm, based on 2019 revenue. The company has more than 100,000 employees (excluding affiliates) and serves real estate investors and occupiers through approximately 530 offices (excluding affiliates) worldwide. In Romania, CBRE offers an extensive range of integrated services including transaction management and coordination, project management, design and build services, property management, investment management, valuation, property rental, strategic consulting, property sales, mortgage services and development services. For more information, please visit www.cbre.ro or follow  our Linkedin page.