- Half of the respondents plan to buy a home next year
- VAT has increased the prices of new homes – obstacle for 12% of buyers
- Fewer leases signed – down 17 percentage points vs. 2024
- More collaborations with real estate agents in 2025 – growth in both sales and rentals
After a 2025 marked by prudence and fewer purchases, Romanians are optimistic about the real estate market: 8 out of 10 survey respondents plan to make real estate transactions in 2026, and half intend to buy a home, according to the latest recurring survey conducted by History – the most visited real estate platform in Romania. In addition, most are anticipating lower prices and interest rates, including sellers.
“The trends in the survey show that the real estate market remains dynamic, even in a complex economic context. After a year of caution, the Romanians surveyed do not give up their plans, but adjust them: 80% are considering a transaction in 2026, and half intend to buy a home. Taking into account the fact that the housing stock available in the big cities is smaller, and the number of building permits has decreased in recent years, we cannot estimate that prices will stagnate or fall. Even in the context of increased VAT and a slightly more cautious demand, we expect prices to continue to rise, but at a slower pace than in previous years,” he said Monica Dudău, Head of Marketing Real Estate Europe, OLX Group (Storia and OLX Real Estate in RO).
2025 Real Estate Stocks Retrospective
Prudence dominated the housing market in 2025. Most respondents (54%) said they had no real estate intention, 9 percentage points more than in 2024. However, another 27% said they intended to purchase a property, down 9 percentage points from last year. Intentions to sell a property also increased to 14%, an advance of 6 percentage points compared to 2024. Rental plans remained low: 3% of respondents said they wanted to rent a property, and 2% wanted to rent a property, a percentage similar to last year.
In the case of respondents who they purchased a property in 2025, the process from starting the search to completing the purchase was faster than in previous years. 58% completed their purchase in less than three months, an increase of 5 percentage points from last year. However, for 17% the duration was between 3 and 6 months, for 15% it exceeded 12 months, and for 10% of respondents the process lasted between 6 and 12 months.
Regarding the perception of the difficulty of the search and purchase process, most respondents stated that they expected a very easy level of difficulty (35%), followed by a medium one (29%). 18% said they expected the process to be easy, while 11% expected it to be difficult and 8% very difficult. Finally, after purchase, the process was rated by most respondents (60%) as easier or much easier than they imagined.
42% of those who purchased a property did not interrupt their search (-13 percentage points compared to 2024), while 58% also had interruptions (+14 percentage points compared to last year). Searches were interrupted mainly because the properties of interest were purchased by people with larger budgets (58%), respectively because the properties of interest exceeded the budget allocated by the respondents (13%), but also because other people paid cash (12%), to the detriment of the respondents who planned to purchase the home through a bank loan.
In terms of trade-offs, 30% of respondents supplemented their budget, down 3 percentage points from 2024, and 14% changed their search area, down 8 percentage points from last year. However, 23% of respondents said they made no compromises, up 9% from last year.
Although almost a third of buyers (30%) say that they did not experience financial difficulties in the purchase process, the reality shows that for another part of buyers the cost pressure was felt strongly in 2025. More than a quarter (27%) were affected by the increase in rates on existing loans, while 15% abandoned their original plans due to the increase in the price of old homes. In addition, 12% pointed to the increase in prices for new homes, generated by the VAT change, as the main obstacle to finding the property they want.
In 2025, renting a house it was faster for many Romanians. 38% of tenant respondents found their desired property in less than a week, a significant increase of 17 percentage points compared to last year. For another 25% the process took between one and two weeks, and 21% needed 3-4 weeks. Only 7% needed up to three months, down 16 percentage points from last year, while 9% exceeded the 3-month mark.
The biggest challenge for tenants remains finding ads of interest (45%), followed by going to viewings (26%) and finding a professional estate agent (18%). When it comes to compromises, 21% of renters have over budgeted, a significant drop of 20 percentage points from last year. Another 21% accepted a different division from the one originally desired, and 17% declared that they did not make any compromise.
In terms of formalities, 63% of tenant respondents stated that they had signed a contract with the landlord, 17 percentage points less than in 2024. Conversely, 18% stated that they had not signed any contract (6 percentage points more compared to 2024), and 19% did not want to answer this question.
In the case of respondents who they sold a property in 2025the process from publishing an ad to finding a buyer took less than 3 months for 47% of respondents, down 10 percentage points from 2024. In contrast, 34% of respondents needed three to six months, a significant increase of 14 percentage points from last year. For 11% of them the process lasted between 6 and 12 months, and 8% waited over a year.
The biggest challenge for sellers remains finding serious buyers, cited by 49% of respondents, up 10 percentage points from 2024. Other difficulties were getting viewings (18%) and finding professional real estate agents (16%). In this context, 70% of owners collaborated with one or more agents, up 15 percentage points compared to last year.
In the case of those who they rented out a property34% managed to find tenants in one to two weeks, and 27% in less than a week. Another 24% needed 3-4 weeks, while 8% waited up to three months and 7% needed more than 3 months to rent.
Finding serious tenants remains the main challenge, indicated by 50% of respondents, 21 percentage points less than last year. Price negotiation was mentioned by 26%, up 10 percentage points, and receiving viewings was mentioned by 22% of respondents, up 13 percentage points from 2024. Additionally, 57% of those who rented in 2025 said they worked with real estate agents, up 11 percentage points from last year.
Romanians' plans and forecasts regarding real estate prices from 2026
In 2026, half of respondents (50%) intend to purchase a property, 3 percentage points more than in the previous survey. Conversely, 21% have no real estate plan, down 10 percentage points. 17% want to rent a home, up 7 percentage points, and 10% intend to sell a property, up 1 percentage point. Only 3% want to find tenants in 2026, 1 percentage point less than those who had this intention for 2025.
Expectations of price developments are influenced by vested interests, with one exception. 64% of those interested in buying in 2026 expect the prices of homes for sale to fall (+18 percentage points versus the previous year), and 57% of those who want to sell anticipate the same, namely that the prices of homes for sale will fall, contrary to personal interests. Conversely, 46% of landlords who want to rent expect rental prices to rise, while 45% of those who want to rent hope for decreases.
Regarding mortgage rates in 2026, 23% of respondents anticipate significant declines, 21% believe they will stagnate, and 20% expect slight declines. On the other hand, 11% expect slight increases, and 6% significant increases, while 20% do not know what to expect.
In terms of real estate activities planned for the next year, 43% of respondents want to watch real estate ads, and 22% plan to view properties of interest. 8% want to consult with the bank or a broker about credit options, and 7% want to follow real estate news. At the same time, 27% declare that they do not plan any real estate activity for 2026.
The questionnaire was published on Storia and OLX Imobiliare in November 2025, and answers were collected from 2,608 respondents.
***
About History
Storia is the most visited real estate platform in Romania and also the platform with the most sales and rental ads in the country, which aims to bring more clarity to the real estate market. It's the place where thousands of owners, real estate agents and developers present their offers. Storia aims to support those looking for the right home by providing tools and valuable information about the real estate market to help them make informed decisions. In 2022, Storia launched a tool that analyzes the quality of life in Romanian neighborhoods. The Storia Index (originally TRAI) offers a score from 0 to 100 for each neighborhood, based on 17 important criteria for Romanians. This includes both objective data – such as traffic, air quality or housing prices – as well as subjective perceptions, collected through an ongoing survey of more than 109,000 respondents. Among the aspects evaluated are safety, cleanliness, quietness or access to cycle paths. The goal is for people to have a clearer picture of the neighborhoods they live in or are considering moving to.
Article powered by Storia
