How “Financiarul” newspaper saw my yesterday’s press conference

Because of the prolonged crisis that swept Greece, Greek investors are seeking business opportunities in other countries. "Greece is in shock. Greek companies are not investing in the country, Romania being one of the 4-5 destinations for the Greek investors." said Ilias Papageorgiadis, CEO of More Real Estate Services. However, for every 100 euros invested by the Greeks in real estate properties last year, 80 euros took London's way and only 5 euros reached the Romanian market, said Ilias Papageorgiadis for Fin.ro.

"If London’s properties offered last year a yield (return) of 6% and in Romania it was 10%, the difference was too small for the Romanian properties to represent a real attraction for the investors, so they chose London." said More’s CEO.

Most investors that looks at the Romanian market are seeking for deals in the foreclosure category (property executed) or distress Assets category (in difficulty), both in the residential segment, and office.

Also, according to the most optimistic forecasts of foreign investors, a (shy) revival of the real estate market is announced for the next year, with a higher transaction volume in 2013-2014.

However, Ilias Papageorgiadis says the new generation of investors is much more cautious and investments in Romania will be made only if there’s real "incredible opportunities."

Oleg Cojocaru

Real estate investments in Romania have a clear upward trend, with a slight but steady recovery for the coming years, particularly noticeable effect from 2013-2014, said on Monday (March 28, 2011), Ilias Papageorgiadis, the CEO of More Real Estate Services in a press conference.

"Foreign investors have started to be interested again in Romania but currently the most attractive markets are Warsaw, London, Paris and Frankfurt. The discussions at the International Property Show, MIPIM-2011, makes me estimate an increase in investments from 2013 to 2014 on all segments: industrial, retail, residential and logistics. At MIPIM we signed a number of partnerships for the development of luxury residential projects and some hotels. In the coming period I will work with four new major retailers who want to come to Romania, with Scandinavian investors interested in lands around Bucharest where they can build, and with several international investment funds interested in buying apartments at attractive prices.” said Ilias Papageorgiadis.

The year 2011 will be a year with more real estate transactions than 2010, mostly coming from the area of foreclosures, many of which will remain however, unknown in the market.

"Neither the developer, who says he has money to continue certain projects, nor the banks, where the customers can have the feeling that they did not offered performing loans, have no interest to make public a number of foreclosures, but those transactions will dominate the market in 2011." said Ilias Papageorgiadis.

The main areas covered by the new investors are Bucharest, Transylvania – the industrial and logistics segment with a focus on Cluj, where investments in tourism are announced. However, the estimates remain subject to international events but also to the Romanian economy and reliability.

"Romania is now one of the 4-5 options for the Greek businessmen looking to invest their capital outside Greece. However, a yield of only 6% offered by the real estate investments in London, compared to 10% in Bucharest, United Kingdom’s capital is preferred for economic security reasons." said Ilias Papageorgiadis.

Oleg Cojocaru