A new real estate agency in Romania provides services for Ukrainian investors who want to buy property on the local market. The founders are Ukrainian Denys Sedakov and Romanian Dumitru Mocanu, who met when communities from across Romania mobilized to help war refugees arriving from the neighbouring country.

New City Romania is the first Romanian-Ukrainian real estate agency active on the local market and collaborates with several residential projects such as Cosmopolis, Greenfield, Aqua City, City Point, Luxuria Residence, Nusco City, Win Herăstrău, Up-Site, City Gardens, Confort Nord, Herăstrău Boutique, My Corbeanca, New Point, Onix Park, Elements by the Lake, or Avangarde Forest.

"Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians rented properties at the beginning of spring and are now starting to invest in real estate, a market that in Romania has an annual return of 5-6%, among the most profitable in Europe," the company said in a press release.

According to the same source, Ukrainian buyers are between 30 and 70 years old. Most of them already have children or grandchildren in Romania and want to ensure stability for them. Meanwhile, some work remotely or have already found jobs here and don't want to live in a rented space anymore.

"This summer, seeing that the war is far from over, we decided to enter the real estate market in Romania amid increased demand from Ukrainian investors who wanted to secure their capital," said Denys Sedakov, partner New City Romania.

According to him, three types of Ukrainians invest in Romania: "First of all, there are those who are looking for apartments because they want to stay here, they have a budget of EUR 60-70,000 from which they buy studios or one-bedroom apartments. On the other hand, we have those who have money saved up and are looking to generate passive income from buying and renting out 2 or 3 bedroom apartments. The third type of investors is looking for apartments between EUR 90-140,000 for which they pay a 5% VAT this year and which they can resell in the future because, with the change in VAT, the price of the apartment will also increase."

Dumitru Mocanu, New City Romania partner, said they've been encountering various situations. In some cases, Ukrainian women don't want to leave their families and homes, but men insist on moving to a safer place, such as Romania.

"Other Ukrainians call us from other European countries saying that they want to settle in Romania because it is closer to their home, the sales conditions are much better, and, even with the idea that the war will end, the period of reconstruction of the country will be a long one anyway, and they prefer to be close," Mocanu explained.

The main reasons that attract Ukrainian investors are prices similar to those in Ukraine from the pre-war period; the easy conditions for Ukrainians to obtain a temporary residence permit and open bank accounts; high investment reliability, unlike the Ukrainian one, when buying a property in instalments; and the distance from Kyiv to Bucharest, of approximately 1,000 km.

The Ukrainian partner, Denys Sedakov, has 27 years of experience in the sale of real estate, of which the last 8 years were in the sale of new residential complexes and commercial premises. At the end of February, when the conflict with Russia flared up, Denys and his family took shelter from the missiles in a friend's house in Kyiv. However, they finally decided it would be safer for his wife and children to go to Romania. Denys Sedakov followed them a bit later after finding out that, because he had no military experience and three children to care for, the state delayed his enlistment in the army until July 2024. He continues to get involved in humanitarian efforts for Ukraine.

The Romanian partner, Dumitru Mocanu, has 15 years of experience in marketing and sales on local and international markets, consulting and management. With the start of the war, he became actively involved in helping Ukrainian refugees. Originally from the Republic of Moldova and speaking Russian, Dumitru helped the refugees find a place to shelter until things calmed down.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Dreamstime.com)