No real estate deals till H2 of 2009
04 November 2008
Mergers and acquisitions in the real estate market have been frozen in the last three months and no significant deal is expected until the second half of 2009, Capital Partners investment company executive, Andrei Diaconescu, said. Last year, real estate deals in Romania amounted to a record EUR 2 billion. This year, however, the figure has dropped to half, and could have been zero if it had not been for deals finalized in 2008, which started in 2007, Diaconescu said.
Lower lender liquidity is forcing potential buyers to stand by, while owners are not willing to sell at the current 8%-9% yields, Diaconescu added. ''When the buyers' problem of liquidity is solved, prices will amount to an acceptable level for sellers, although these will not be as high as last year,'' he said.
The only segment of the market with a positive evolution this year was rentals, as owners opted to rent their properties instead of selling them at low prices. As far as the transaction segment is concerned, the market is back to 2004 levels, at which time financing was also in short supply, according to Diaconescu.
Major developers, including TriGranit, RED Management Capital and River Invest, announced they would postpone projects that lack financing and have cancelled plans to sell properties in their portfolio. The Immoeast and Charlemagne investment funds have also given up acquisition plans and are focusing on strategic partnerships with developers.
Meanwhile, the General Manager of Gea Prasa Real estate developer, Rafael Ordas Dieguez, said the local real estate market will revive in 2009, with a boost in demand, following several months of stagnation.
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