Developers are looking new sales strategies for 2009

Players on the market, affected by the international financial crisis, have to come up with new ways to increase the appetite of buyers.

“Our apartments already have small surfaces and we cannot make any more changes. Our strategy for 2009 targets building homes, considering the pace of such sales. If sales go up, we will build more,” said Shimon Galon, Chief Executive Officer of Globe Trade Centre Romania, a major player on the local residential market. Galon added that lowering the construction standard to cut prices will lead to units similar to those built 15 years ago.

“Homes destined for the middle class have surfaces close to the minimum allowed by law and these cannot be cut any further. This method was used in the past two years but cannot be applied now,” said Ilinca Paun, Manager of the Residential Division of Colliers International real estate consultancy company.  

However, the Spanish Hercesa announced its intention to cut the space of apartments included in the Estellas project, in the Grozavesti area of Bucharest. The average useful Hercesa apartment space will reach 45 square meters.

According to the draft law of the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Housing a studio apartment will have a minimum surface of 37 sqm, of which the room will be 18 sqm, the kitchen 5 sqm, and the bathroom 4.5 sqm. In the case of a one-bedroom apartment, the minimum surface will be 57 sqm, while a two bedroom apartment will require 74 sqm.