Rental rates for office space outside Romania’s capital Bucharest rose by 32% last year to 49,661 sqm.

Iasi ranked first, with leasing transactions for over 17,600 sqm of offices, followed by Timisoara, with 13,000 sqm, according to a study by Esop Consulting.

Most of the companies that leased office space in Iasi last year are from the IT sector: Cegeca, Centric IT, Xerox, Amazon, and Bitdefender.

The office market in Romania’s big cities is developing due to the labor demand from the IT&C and outsourcing companies, according to Alexandru Petrescu, Managing Partner with Esop Consulting. The supply of quality office space has also increased.

“Romania ranks second in the ranking Deloitte Technology Fast 50 in Central Europe, after Poland. This translates into an ever growing interest of the investors for the local workforce,” Petrescu said.

The interest in the labor force outside Bucharest will continue to remain high throughout 2016, according to the Esop study. The quality of new buildings in Timisoara, Cluj-Napoca, Iasi, as well of the stability of the businesses in these cities will attract new investors, according to the real estate analysts.

editor@romania-insider.com