Romanian online real estate platform Casta, part of the Neogen group – controlled by local investor Calin Fusu, has launched a new service that aims to help apartment owners sell their properties faster.

Through this service, called InstaBuy, the platform will make offers to buy apartments from interested sellers.

Casta.ro thus becomes the first real estate portal in Romania and one of the few in Europe that buys apartments put up for sale by owners, with cash payment.

The service aims to help apartment owners sell their properties faster, given that the time it takes to conclude a sale has increased because of the CCOVID-19 pandemic.

"Casta is taking the first step towards digitizing the sale of apartments, becoming the first iBuyer in Romania and among the few in Europe. We use technology to generate quick InstaBuy offers for apartments in Bucharest, thus meeting the needs of owners by streamlining the sales process," said Horea Crăciun, general manager of Casta.ro.

"People today expect any transaction - including the sale of an apartment - to be completed in a very short time and without too much hassle. We already see an increase in technology-assisted transactions in many industries, and many consumers want this type of innovation in the real estate field as well," he added.

Casta.ro promises to make a firm cash offer for an apartment within three days from receiving the property's specifications.

The transaction can thus be concluded within seven days for apartments that are not mortgaged. The owners can also reject the company's offer.

The number of apartments sold in Romania in the second quarter of this year decreased by about 20.4% compared to the first quarter and by 16% compared to the same period last year, according to official data from the National Agency for Cadaster and Real Estate Advertising (ANCPI).

Moreover, the sale time has increased, on average, to 100 days, and market data show that only 3 out of 10 apartments put up for sale are bought in less than three months from the publication of the ads, especially since most purchases are finances with mortgage loans, according to Casta.ro.

(Photo: Pixabay)

andrei@romania-insider.com