Looking back with envy

The Romanian residential market has been trying to catch up with its neighbours, but the financial crisis has hit developers hard. Analysts expect a lower rate of activity because of the lack of liquidity on the market. The most affected are new residential schemes, which are hard to finance and hard to sell Matei Roman The most significant trend recorded on the local residential market is the increasing number of offers of large residential projects that include hundreds or thousands of housing units, to keep costs at a tolerable level. The strategy might very well continue in the future, allowing developers to sell units at affordable prices targeted at middle-income customers. New schemes announced or launched at the end of last year, such as Cosmopolis, with 4,700 units and Bonaire (12,000 units), and both developed near Bucharest, are at the forefront of this trend. They are being developed over long periods – 5 to 7 years – and the value of the investments are clo