Real estate companies expect office rents to increase on the local market in the next quarter, for the first time in four years, considering the gap between demand and supply of available spaces is widening.

Respondents say that the rental market and the occupancy rate on the office market in Romania are strengthening after a period of decline in interest, according to the survey conducted by The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Romania (RICS).

“The impact of the good results registered by the industrial and agricultural sectors helped the Romanian economy to grow 3.5 percent in 2013, this being clearly reflected in the positive sentiment of the real estate market in the first quarter of 2014,” said Ovidiu Prunea, board member of RICS Romania, quoted by local news agency Mediafax.

On the other hand, on the real estate investments market, the situation is more balanced. The survey confirms that investment demand continued to increase  (plus 29 percent), although at a considerably more modest rate than in the previous two quarters (plus 60 percent and plus 40 percent respectively). Moreover, expectations regarding increases in assets in the next three months are more subdued, reports Mediafax.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com