Wakefield Echinox | Romania Feed

Romanians spent more than €42 billion in major retail chains in 2025, a total 5.6% higher than in 2024 and 77% above the 2019 level, according to the Romania Retail Snapshot 2026 published by the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox real estate consultancy company. The study was based on the financial results of 125 companies operating across 13 retail segments.

Bucharest’s office market continues to strengthen its fundamentals, supported by a recovery in occupier demand driven by new lease transactions and expansions, against a backdrop of limited new supply, up from 53% during the same period of 2025, reveals Marketbeat Office Q2 2026 report published by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Romania’s industrial and logistics market maintained its positive momentum in the first half of 2026, supported by a visible acceleration in leasing activity during the second quarter, despite a challenging macroeconomic environment marked by economic contraction, persistent inflation and pressure on consumer spending, according to the Romania Marketbeat Industrial Q2 2026 report published by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Romania real estate investment market after the first seven months of 2026 overshot the level recorded throughout the whole of 2025 following the completion of AFI Europe’s acquisition of a portfolio of six retail parks from MAS Real Estate and several smaller transactions, reveals a report drawn up by real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Romanians spent approximately EUR 63 million in cinemas last year, a record level for the local market, reflecting an almost 7% increase compared with 2024, while the number of admissions remained relatively stable at 11.2 million, according to data from the Romanian Film Center analyzed by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Romania retail market went through a contrasting first quarter in 2026, according to the Romanian Retail Marketbeat Q1 2026 report published by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Romania industrial and logistics market overshot the 8 million-sqm threshold at the end of the first quarter of 2026 as developers delivered around 115,000 square meters of new spaces and another around 500,000 square meters are under construction, reveals the Romania Marketbeat Industrial Q1 2026 report drawn up by real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

The average total office fit-out costs in Bucharest slightly increased in 2025 to €1,077/ sq. m, according to data from the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox real estate consultancy company, based on the EMEA Fit-Out Cost Guide 2026.

The office development activity in Bucharest accelerated over the past year, with the volume of projects currently under construction exceeding 200,000 sq. m of gross leasable area, the highest level since 2021. At least eight new office buildings are expected to be delivered by the end of 2028, according to the Bucharest Office Marketbeat Q4 2025, published by the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox real estate consultancy company.

The office operational costs in Bucharest have increased by approximately 17% over 2025, according to an analysis of the Cushman & Wakefield Echinox real estate consultancy company. The upward trend was driven by a combination of macroeconomic and operational factors, including high inflation, increased personnel costs, and changes in fiscal policy.

The leading tenants of modern offices in Romania totally spend over EUR260 million annually for the spaces they operate in, namely below 1% of total turnover these companies registered in 2024, reveals an analysis of real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

The volume of logistic and industrial spaces leased in the first nine months of 2025 reached around 750,000 square meters, up 30% from the year-earlier period, reveals the Romania Industrial Markbeat Q3/2025 report published by real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

New retail project development is showing signs of a rebound, with deliveries in the first nine months topping the level registered in the entire 2024, so that 2025 is shaping up as the second most lucrative year in the past decade in terms of activity on this segment, reveals the Romania Retail Marketbeat Q3 2025 report published by real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Foreign direct investment in constructions and real estate deals more than tripled in absolute value during the 2014-2024 period, by EUR15 billion, to EUR21.6 billion at the end of last year, so that the weight of this field in the overall amount went up from 10.6% to 17.3%, in line with Romania central bank data analyzed by real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Romania stands out in the European fiscal landscape through a significantly lower level of property taxation compared with the European Union average, as per an analysis conducted by real estate consulting company Cushman & Wakefield Echinox, based on EUROSTAT data.

Romania stands out in the European fiscal landscape with a property taxation level that is significantly lower than the EU average, a feature that has spurred the appeal of the local real estate market and created a favorable fiscal framework both for owners and for investors, according to an analysis carried out by Cushman & Wakefield Echinox on the basis of Eurostat data.

Office space demand slowed down in the first quarter of 2025 in CEE, a trend also visible in Bucharest, where companies leased 51,300 square meters in the first three months, down 44% from the year-earlier period, in line with data provided by real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

The average cost of fitting out Bucharest office spaces rose by 12% in 2024 against 2023, going beyond EUR1,000/sqm, in line with regional evolutions, where most capital cities posted 8-15% higher prices, in line with data provided by real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox on the basis of Fit-Out Cost Guide 2025 report.

IT, manufacturing and industry, as well as healthcare and pharma companies have been the most dynamic ones on the office leasing market in the past five years, generating over half of new office space demand, in line with data provided by real estate consultancy Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.

Investors from Western Europe, particularly from Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, and the United Kingdom, have been the most active buyers of real estate assets in Romania over the past five years (2019–2024), making investments totaling EUR1.75 billion, as per data from real estate consulting firm Cushman & Wakefield Echinox.