Real estate deals in Romania seem to have picked up in the first quarter of this year, after a low 2009. The value of real estate deals reached EUR 108.34 million in the first quarter of 2010, compared to a mere EUR 5 million in the same period of last year, according to DTZ Echinox.

According to DTZ Echinox’s estimations, the total volume of investments on this sector will be close to EUR 500 million. “The targeted products are mainly commercial and office spaces, long term, steady income generating properties, but speculative investors, the most active on the market at this time, might also consider packages of apartments, with high estimated returns, due to the current low pricing,” said Bogdan Sergentu, head of valuations and consulting with DTZ Echinox.

The volume of real estate investments in Europe grew by 12 percent to EUR 17.2 billion during this first quarter of the year.

“Retail grew its share of overall activity to 44 percent, compared to 27 percent last quarter. The growth has been primarily driven by an increase in shopping centre sales, which accounted for 25 percent of European investment in Q1,” said Magali Marton, head of DTZ' continental Europe and Middle East research.