The number of new housing units delivered in Romania in the last quarter of 2020 decreased by 8.3% compared to the same period of 2019, to 19,326, according to the statistics office INS.

However, the same indicator soared by 19.2% year-on-year to 6,298 units in Bucharest and its surroundings, which concentrated one-third of the new housing units in the quarter.

Thus, the share held by Bucharest metropolitan area in the country's residential market doubled from 15-16% in 2016-2017 - speaking of the last quarter of the year.

For the full years, the picture is not much different: the number of new housing units delivered in the Bucharest metropolitan area soared by 40% in 2020 compared to 2019 to 20,773 units - 31% of the total country residential market (67,816 units) that inched up a mere 0.5% year-on-year.

The Bucharest area strengthened its weight in the countrywide residential market from under 20% in 2016-2018.

The region that posted the most dramatic deterioration in the number of new housing units delivered in 2020 and Q4 is the North-West.

In 2020, the number of new housing units in this region contracted by nearly a quarter (-23.5%), and the decline was steeper (-33.2%) in Q4 alone.

(Photo: Pixabay)

iulian@romania-insider.com