The residential market in Bucharest remains the strongest in Romania, with a total of 3,388 individual homes traded in May 2025, according to an analysis that shows that 39% are bought with cash and the rest by mortgage.
The residential market in Bucharest remains the strongest in Romania
In the first five strongest residential markets outside the capital (Timișoara, Iași, Brașov, Cluj-Napoca and Constanța), only 63% of the total number of transactions in Bucharest are made.
The residential market in Bucharest remains the strongest in Romania, with a total of 3,388 individual housing traded in May 2025. In the other five big cities in the country, which registered the most sales in the same month, 2,145 homes were cumulated, according to an analysis by Fortim Trustim Advisate. It is important to note that the registration of transactions in the land book usually reflects sales negotiated in the previous months.
On the first place in the top of the cities outside the capital is Timișoara, followed by Iași, in the second position, and Brașov, on the third place, according to the first report on cities made by the National Agency for Cadastre and Real Estate Advertising (ANCPI).
In the counties ranking, Timiș also runs detached, followed by Cluj, in second place, and Constanța, who occupies the third position.
“Bucharest and Timișoara are among the most dynamic residential markets in Romania at this time, benefiting from still competitive, lower average prices compared to cities such as Cluj-Napoca and Brașov. The capital has the advantage of a high purchasing power, the largest in the country, as well as an increased interest in investors, with over 15,000 new housing.“Says Costin Nistor, Managing Director at Fortim Trusted Advisors, a member of the BNP Paribas Real Estate Alliance.
In Timiș county it is most bought by mortgage loan
Timisoara purchased about 75% of homes through mortgage loans, according to the data provided by ANCPI and analyzed by Fortim Trusted Advisors. Only 25% of the real estate transactions in Timiș County were fully paid in cash in May 2025.
In the second place in the top of the counties with the highest weight of the acquisitions financed by credit is Brașov, with 71%, followed closely by Cluj County, in the third position.
At the opposite end, the highest share of transactions made with cash money is registered in Iași county, where 44% of the homes were bought without bank funding.
“In Bucharest, the percentage of buyers who purchase homes with cash has reached 39%, decreasing from previous years”, Points Costin Nistor, specifying that the trend is to decrease the number of small investors, who buy cash apartments. In 2022, over 50% of the transactions were made without bank funding, but this share has registered a constant decline in recent years.
The real estate market, in decline
The real estate market seems to be in an accentuated decline, the number of buildings bought in April at national level being18% lower than a year ago, decrease in particular by the Bucharest market, where almost 3,400 transactions took place, 28% less than in April 2024.
The data show that at national level, almost 12,500 transactions took place in April, which represents a decrease by almost 18% compared to April last year. The decrease was determined in particular by the market in Bucharest, where nearly 3,400 transactions took place, decreasing by about 28%.
In the main counties of the country, the decreases were generally lower compared to the national average, such as in Cluj (-7%), Constanța (-13%) and Ilfov (-15%), all with over 700 transactions. In addition, in Timiș county, the number of transactions increased by 2%, to almost 900 transactions.
For a more relevant comparison of the real estate market, the ANCPI data shows that in the latest three months for which there is information, ie February – April 2025, almost 41,000 transactions were held at national level, and in this case the decrease is 6.5% compared to February – April 2024.
In addition, in this case, the three top counties mentioned above registered increases on the line, from almost 24% for Constanța (over 2,800 transactions) to almost 1% for Timiș (2,700 transactions), with an increase of over 12% reported for Cluj (almost 2,800 transactions).
In contrast, in this case it is observed that Bucharest reported a higher decrease compared to the national average, as 12,000 transactions took place here, with about 10% less than in the same period last year.
At the level of the first four months of the year, ANCPI reported over 49,000 transactions, which corresponds to a decrease by 8.5% compared to the first four months of last year. And in this case, one of the main explanations for this decrease is the evolution in the Capital, where almost 15,000 transactions took place, with almost 12% below the last year.
Fewer active mortgages
April became the first calendar month of this year in which the number of active mortgages is decreasing compared to the similar month last year. Specifically, ANCPI reported 7,400 active mortgages in April 2025, with 5% less compared to April 2024.
However, the data show that this decrease comes in particular due to a 20% decrease in the active mortgages in Bucharest, to just over 2,000. In contrast, the data show percentage increases from two digits in Ilfov (+45%), Timiș (+16%) and Cluj (+12%), while a higher decrease than in the Capital was registered only in Constanta (-25%).
If we take into account the previous three months, then the number of active mortgages is increasing by 6%, to over 24,000, compared to the period February-April 2024. In addition, with notable exceptions in Constanța (-28%) and Iași (-49%), all other top markets are increasing to this indicator, including the capital (+3%). Thus, in Ilfov there are 50% more active mortgages, and in Timiș and Cluj the increases are 14% and 30% respectively.
