The share of Romanians in urban areas who own their home has fallen to 70.5% this year, compared with 73% in 2025, according to a specialist survey published on Friday.
According to data from Colliers, the number of those living in rented homes has risen to 15.9%, from 11.3% last year, although interest in purchasing a home is higher, with 42.5% of respondents stating that they intend to do so within the next 6-12 months, compared with 35.2% in 2025.
Overall, however, home sales in Romania declined by around 20% in the first two months of the year, both in Bucharest and nationwide, the research notes.
"The data indicate a genuine shift in the market, not merely a statistical effect. The pressure is most evident among groups that already have more limited financial capacity, particularly young people and lower-income households. For them, rising prices, the cost of financing and the lack of a sufficiently well-calibrated supply in the affordable segment are making the transition from purchase intention to actual transaction increasingly difficult. In other words, interest in buying exists, but for a growing share of the market the moment of purchase is being postponed. In addition, selection criteria are becoming increasingly selective. Buyers are no longer looking only at the purchase price, but increasingly at the total cost of living: energy expenses, access to transport, time spent in traffic, proximity to services and the overall quality of the project. Under these conditions, well-located and energy-efficient homes maintain their attractiveness more effectively, while the rest of the supply becomes harder to absorb without commercial adjustments or clearer positioning in the affordable price segment," the consultants stress in a press release sent to AGERPRES.
According to the source, the pressure is felt mainly among the young population under 35, where the decline in access to ownership and the increase in renting are most visible.
"For this category, the transition from renting to ownership is becoming slower and more difficult, indicating an increasing delay in the moment of entering home ownership. This dynamic is also reflected in market developments, where the number of transactions has fallen by around 20% in the first two months of the year, both in Bucharest and nationwide. At the same time, the limited supply of new homes is narrowing the options available to buyers and contributes to maintaining pressure on prices and rents. Under these conditions, the main constraint of the market is not the lack of demand, but affordability, influenced by the cost of financing, price levels and the difficult mismatch between supply and buyers' current budgets. Thus, the market sends a clear signal: interest in purchasing remains high, but is translating into actual transactions more slowly, against the backdrop of a mismatch between buyers' expectations and real market conditions," the survey conclusions read.
Specialists point out that, for many households, especially those at the start of their journey, the desired home remains theoretically within their area of interest, but is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain financially without a larger deposit, two stable incomes or compromises regarding size, location or the age of the property.
The specialist survey was conducted by Unlock Market Research for Colliers on a sample of one thousand urban respondents.
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