Most builders complain about the “disastrous” situation on the civil construction segment. “People are not building anymore. Nothing is being done anymore,” Alecsandru Ionut, administrator of the Iasi-based Alecsandru Construct company, told Business Standard. The company cut prices to €30-40 per square meter from €60-70 in 2008.
In Bucharest, although tariffs are higher, drop rates are similar. “Construction orders are increasingly fewer. We cut prices by half,” said Adrian Vaduva, Manager of the Bucharest-based AdconsGrup construction company. In 2008, the price for one square meter of a partly-finished home amounted to as much as €150.
There are also exceptions, such as the AGI Total Construct company in Bucharest, which reduced prices by five percent compared to last year. The company’s manager, Dinu Ene, told Business Standard that demand was sustained at its 2008 level this year and his business was not affected by the crisis. “We built over 20 homes last year. This year, to date, we have built 19. Demand is the same. The crisis has not cut into my activity,” Ene added.
Globally, the price of a partly-finished home is 12-15 percent lower than last year, according to Claudiu Georgescu, President of the Association of Construction Material Producers in Romania, considering the fact that prices of construction materials fell by 10 percent (breezeblock and brick) to 30 percent (thermo-insulating doors and windows).
