Average price per sq m of building to reach EUR 1,700 in 2008
In your opinion, what will be the development of the property market in 2008? What about in the next three years?
In 2008 we expect an average 15 per cent price rise in flats and land. Northern Bucharest will remain of interest in the residential segment, but the area will continue expanding outside the city towards Corbeanca, Stefanesti, Saftica and Tunari.
The shortage of construction workers, the higher building material prices, the continuous growth of the price of land and the more expensive parking spaces, to name a few, are problems that will affect buyers interested in new homes. We estimate that the average price per square metre of building will grow by approximately EUR 200, to EUR 1,700.
The price of older homes is not expected to drop in 2008 either, as long as the demand stays unmatched by the supply of new dwelling units delivered. Some other reasons that make us believe the price of older apartments will not decrease are the still unfinished infrastructure around some of the new residential developments and the fact that some of the interested buyers cannot afford or will not wait for the completion of off-plan sold properties. Any major change in the new vs. older property ratio should probably be expected in over three years’ time.
What are the advantages of buying a new apartment over an old apartment?
With new apartments, areas are better partitioned, finishings will be of better quality in most of the cases, and the heat insulation will be also better which naturally saves heating costs.
Another very important plus are the security services and the other facilities considered with a new residential development such as nurseries, swimming pools, beauty or fitness centres, gardens, so on and so forth.
When buying an old villa, the owner has to make considerable efforts before actually moving there: according to the age and current state of the place, peel-off, hydro-insulation, plumbing, roofing, new interior and exterior plastering, new finishing not to mention restoring the architecture to its original shape may be needed. There are also concerns about the seismic endurance of buildings completed before 1940s, mainly villas with load-bearing walls and beam-structure ceilings, as the seismic resistance was not a major building criteria at the time.
Why has MediaCity selected these locations for its projects?
All the MediaCity exclusively promoted developments are situated in recognized real estate locations or in regions that are in a process of development.
The developers we partner with choose either the North where we promote the Aurora or Optimus Residence developments – in Sector 1, near the ‘2 Cocosi’ restaurant, to meet the higher demand for homes in the area. For the near future we are working on projects in Corbeanca and Sisesti as well, just to widen the choice for those who want to be based in the North.
On the other hand, developments like Serena in Soseaua Viilor near the carol Park, offer a quite rare combination on the property market at present – flats downtown Bucharest but which, thanks to the plan and design successfully meet the relaxation needs of clients who wish to live in the city centre. In other cases such as the Austrian Village in Crevedia, we targeted that particular category of customers who want their own villa, land bordering the lake and a very refreshing garden near Bucharest.
A special class is formed by the projects of those developers we are already working with in promoting a project in Bucharest and who decide to start developments in other areas of the country. For example, Well Group for whom we promote the Aurora project based in Otopeni is also the developer of the Cronos Residence project in Neptun and Olimp Residence in Constanta, for the marketing and promotion of which they preferred to work with us instead of hiring a local company.
What makes the difference between your company and the other ones on the market?
MediaCity is a real estate consultancy specialized in residential developments as well as office and land segment solutions. With 12 years experience on the property market, MediaCity is engaged to a number of partnerships with various investment funds as well as Romanian and foreign developers. Apart from MediaCity Real estate, the MediaCity group of companies also includes CreditTeam – our lending broker with the largest network in Romania – and Media City Constructions, a market leader in the professional hydro-insulation industry.
