Construction Insights 2026
Bucharest, February 2026: Shopping centers located outside Romania’s capital city were the most attractive real estate asset class for investors in 2025, accounting for almost 40% of the total transaction volume, according to the Romania Marketbeat Investment H2 2025 report. Bucharest office buildings came second, with a 30% share in the total investment volume.
The main retail assets which changed ownership in 2025 include Focsani Mall, Shopping City Suceava, as well as a portfolio of seven retail parks with a total gross leasable area of approximately 32,000 sq m, located in Slobozia, Focsani, Ramnicu Sarat, Targu Secuiesc, Sebes, Fagaras and Gheorgheni. Moreover, Winmarkt Cluj – Napoca and Tulcea, La Cocoș Ploiesti, Module Shopping Center Targoviste or Joy Retail Park Calafat were among the transacted retail assets across 2025. The cumulative value of the retail deals in question reached approximately €200 million.
The most active buyer was the UK-based group M Core, which, supported by a sustained acquisition and development strategy, strengthened its local presence and became the fourth-largest owner of retail properties in Romania.
Investment activity in the office segment was recorded exclusively in Bucharest, where 10 buildings were sold, totaling almost 70,000 sq m and a combined value of approximately €155 million. The most notable transactions included Equilibrium I and Ethos House in the Floreasca–Barbu Vacarescu area, as well as Victoria Center in CBD.
Despite record-high occupier demand for industrial and logistics spaces in 2025, this segment was less represented in investment transactions, as the volume pertaining to these assets dropped from nearly €300 million in 2024 to around €45 million in 2025, significantly impacting the total market results.
Overall, Romania’s commercial real estate investment market totaled approximately €514 million in 2025, down 31% year-on-year, marking the second-lowest annual volume since 2013.
The decline was also driven by the absence of large transactions, as the most significant deals closed in the €50 – 60 million range.
Among the most valuable assets traded in 2025 were the strip mall portfolio sold by MAS RE and Prime Kapital, the Equilibrium I office building (sold by Skanska), the IRIDE office platform in Pipera, Focsani Mall, and Shopping City Suceava.
The Cushman & Wakefield Echinox Capital Markets department coordinated the sale processes for three of the five largest transactions completed in 2025 and provided advisory services on 10 transactions with a combined value of €190 million overall. The transaction portfolio included shopping centers, a hotel in Mamaia, office buildings, a logistics park near Bucharest, and high-street retail units located on the capital city’s main arteries.
Cristi Moga, Head of Capital Markets, Cushman & Wakefield Echinox: “2025 was a year marked by a high activity levels and interest across all property sectors despite the lower transaction volume compared with previous years and to other markets in the region. 2026 has started on an optimistic note, with investors already allocating around €100 million to office buildings in Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca. The macroeconomic environment stabilization, along with improving occupancy rates, infrastructure development and better financing conditions are creating the premises for a growth year, with higher volumes across all segments.”
Across Central and Eastern Europe, investment volumes in income-generating real estate assets reached nearly €11.8 billion in 2025, up 33% compared to 2024.
Poland and the Czech Republic accounted for almost 75% of the regional total, while Romania contributed with 4.4%, ranking as the fifth-largest market among the seven analyzed countries.
Prime yields remained stable across most segments in 2025. The only adjustment recorded was a 25-basis-point compression for high-street retail assets on Calea Victoriei, which reached 7.00%. Prime yields for office buildings and shopping centers are estimated at 7.25%, while industrial assets are quoted at 7.50%.
