Continuous Increase in Demand for Rental Housing

A trend of continuous growth is being observed in the demand for rental housing on the national level, making it one of the largest and most dynamic markets, according to experts at Imobiliare.ro. They state that tens of thousands of apartments are currently available locally for those looking to rent.

The cited source highlights five characteristics of the rental housing segment:

The total supply of apartments available for rent is growing.

Nearly 26,500 apartments are currently awaiting tenants, according to data compiled by Imobiliare.ro. This represents a slight increase from the end of the previous summer when there were almost 25,500 apartments available for rent in the local market.

Rents continue to increase.

In the Bucharest rental segment, a trend of increasing prices is evident. For instance, studios have become 10% more expensive compared to the beginning of 2023. The average rent requested by landlords for two-room apartments has reached 480 euros per month, after a 13% increase during the same time frame. Some of the most significant price increases, however, were not recorded this year in Bucharest but in Constanţa. In this case, landlords increased rents by about 23% for two- and three-room apartments. Interestingly, it's not residents of Bucharest but rather those in Cluj who pay the highest rents for studios and two-room apartments. Additionally, with the upcoming new academic year, the number of those in search of rental housing is expected to increase even more, given that the highest proportion of higher education institutions and students is present in Bucharest. Experts in the field anticipate further price increases in this context.

Most available apartments for rent have two rooms.

Data from Imobiliare.ro shows that the majority of apartments currently available in the Bucharest rental market are two-room units. There are about 13,700 of such units awaiting tenants. The supply in this segment is much more generous than for any other type of apartment, representing 52% of the total. Last year, it accounted for 51% of the total supply. In comparison, three-room apartments make up 24% of the total available supply in the Bucharest market, while larger apartments with four or more rooms, suitable for large families or individuals planning to share monthly expenses with several roommates, are the rarest, representing only 8% of the total local market supply.

The number of studios available for rent decreases in Bucharest.

In the Bucharest rental segment, a downward trend in the number of available studios for rent was recorded in August compared to the same period last year, according to the cited data. While studios accounted for 19% of the total supply in August 2022, the percentage has now decreased to 16%. Those in search of rental housing now have a choice among 4,233 such units. It's possible that this trend could intensify on a local level as the new academic year approaches.

Demand for rental housing is on the rise.

From the second quarter of the previous year to the end of the second quarter of 2023, the demand level for properties available for rent in Bucharest has increased by 35%, according to data published in the latest Imobiliare.ro Market 360 report. This encompasses both apartments and houses, regardless of the age of the properties. Thus, around 52,100 potential renters have begun searching for rental properties on Imobiliare.ro in the second quarter of this year. By comparison, in Cluj-Napoca, the demand for rental properties has increased by a spectacular 98%, and in other major cities in the country such as Timişoara, Braşov, or Iaşi, the increases have ranged from 19% to 48%.