F-14-40 Investing in Romania.Indd
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BNP PARIBAS REAL ESTATE GUIDE TO INVESTING IN ROMANIA 2014 IN COLLABORATION WITH ABOUT BNP PARIBAS REAL ESTATE... BNP Paribas Real Estate is the market leader in commercial real estate services across Europe with €716 million of gross turnover, €164 million of gross operating profi t and 3,700 employees.* More than Close to 35.8 million sqm €18 billion in commercial real estate of assets under management across Europe managed across Europe Close to 311 million sqm valued 305,000 sqm of commercial property under construction A dedicated team present in 7 Countries 4,200 commercial real estate France, Germany, Gulf, Ireland, transactions completed in 2013. Jersey, Spain, United Kingdom; One transaction every 15 minutes. * 2013 key fi gures BNP Paribas Real Estate has local expertise on a global scale through its presence in 40 countries with more than 180 offi ces and 3,700 employees. BNP Paribas Real Estate is a subsidiary of BNP Paribas. In Romania, BNP Paribas Real Estate has been active since 2008 and provides to its clients the following services: Transaction (letting, sales and investment), Valuation, Consulting and Property Management. We understand the specifi c of each client’s activity; we are using all the knowledge and experience to provide the correct analysis and information, helping them to understand the real estate market and the trends of the moment. We pro- vide our clients with the best options available, selecting the tailor-made solution, the one that best fi ts all the client’s requirements. BNP Paribas Real Estate 2014 – INVESTING IN ROMANIA 3 Contents INTRODUCTION Romania by numbers 4 Foreword 5 GUIDE TO ROMANIA Top 10 reasons to invest in Romania 6 Romania: Big Three 8 INVESTOR TOOLKIT Need to know: Key legal terms 16 Need to know: Tax clinic 24 HOT SPOTS Selected investment opportunities 26 Investing in Romania is edited by BNP Paribas Real Estate with the contribution of Salans FMC SNR Denton Europe – Todor si Asociatii SCA. S.C. BNP PARIBAS REAL ESTATE ADVISORY S.A. Registry of Trade Offi ce under no. J40/3890/10.05.2002 Fiscal Code RO 14625999 Headquarters: Bucharest, Union International Center, 11 ,Ion Campineanu Str., 6th Floor, 1st District Tel.: +40 (0)21 312 70 00, Fax: +40 (0)21 312 70 01 www.realestate.bnpparibas.com.ro BNP Paribas Real Estate is part of the BNP Paribas Banking Group All rights reserved. This Guide is protected in its entirety by copyright. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, transmitted, or stored in a retrieval system in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of BNP Paribas Real Estate. Front cover picture: Fotolia 4 INVESTING IN ROMANIA – 2014 BNP Paribas Real Estate INTRODUCTION Romania by numbers Medium-large cities evenly nd divided around the country 2 Largest market in the CEE region th 20m inhabitants 9 Bucharest (1.9m), Cluj-Napoca (0.32m), Largest market Timisoara (0.32m), Iasi (0.29m), in the European Union Constanta (0.28m) IASI CLUJ-NAPOCA TIMISOARA BUCHAREST CONSTANTA 5.09% Uneployment rate GDP growth achieved in 2013 Low public debt to GDP 3.5% 38.7% it is the 3rd consecutive year compared to other CEE countries of economic growth and well below the European Union average of 85.3% Source: IMF, Eurostat, ANOFM, INS BNP Paribas Real Estate 2014 – INVESTING IN ROMANIA 5 Foreword Romania a country to be discovered With the help of this guide we want in Romania and three of the most active to show that Romania is a land of cities in the country: Bucharest, opportunities when it comes to Cluj-Napoca and Timisoara. investing in real estate, and even if the risk might seem slightly Together with Dentons international law higher, compared to other countries, fi rm we collected practical information the returned benefi t is to match. on navigating the fi scal and legal aspects of investing in Romania. The stable prime rents and yields, the recent lease renewal wave and We hope you fi nd this guide an useful the low vacancy of top quality offi ce insight into the Romanian real estate space in prime areas offer great market, with its current strengths and opportunities for foreign investors. opportunities, and we would be pleased The local real estate market is still in to welcome you in Romania in the near early stages of development and has future. good prospects for a further growth. This guide outlines the top ten reasons to invest in Romania. Alongside we Olga Melihov present some key statistics, an overview Business Development Director of the infrastructure projects undergoing BNP Paribas Real Estate 6 INVESTING IN ROMANIA – 2014 BNP Paribas Real Estate GUIDE TO ROMANIA Top 10 reasons to invest in Romania Market potential on medium and long term – the local real estate market is still in early stages of development with good prospects for a further growth which naturally tends towards 1 equilibrium between market’s forces similar with that recorded within other more mature European markets. Improving market fundamentals – the present and prospective demand corroborated with the expected general context of the real estate market and economic environment creates a positive sentiment which further results 2 especially in a qualitative market growth. After a diffi cult period, the real estate segments and economic environment experienced a number of positive signs which indicate a stabilizing process (sustainable economic growth, sustained leasing activity, slight recovery of the development activity). Less volatile real estate market compared to previous years – yields and rental levels witnessed a stabilizing tendency; remained stable for the third consecutive year. This tendency was 3 noticed on all real estate submarkets. Letting activity remained consistent during 2011 - H1 2014 with an obvious increasing trend on the offi ce segment while the vacancy rates fl uctuate within a narrow range. BNP Paribas Real Estate 2014 – INVESTING IN ROMANIA 7 Strong market players already present – the most well-known real estate service companies, banks, investment funds are already present on the local market; their 4 presence is a proof of confi dence in the potential of the market. Local market is expected to offer investment products for various types of investors, considering the total amount to be invested, adversity to risk and targeted market segments. Some 5 of the reluctant owners will be ready to dispose their properties after the expected recovery of the market. Local market offers attractive returns compared to other regional markets considering the associated risks and the prospects on 6 medium and long term. International agreements – Bilateral agreements between Romania and other countries on investments promotion and protection, double taxation avoidance etc; Acquis Communautaire 7 implementation. Extension and improving of the infrastructure – the extension of the highway routes and improvement of the railways will facilitate the connection of the southern part of Romania towards the western European countries. 8 The industrial segment will be the main benefi ciary of the infrastructure improvement, fact demonstrated by the commencement of projects in the vicinity of new transportation hubs. European non-refundable funds – Romania has the right to access important co-fi nancing scheme from EU funds to develop the infrastructure, stimulate the economic activity (tourism, 9 agriculture) etc. The stimulation of the economic activity by the European funds creates a good basis for inducing positive on the real estate market. Romania has a relative competitive advantage over other regional markets generated by availability of well-trained people (especially in IT&C) and level of labor force costs. Multinational companies have set/extended production facilities or offi ce 10 areas becoming a strong presence in the local market in several important cities being active in automotive and production industries, IT&C, BPO’s etc. 8 INVESTING IN ROMANIA – 2014 BNP Paribas Real Estate GUIDE TO ROMANIA Romania: Big Three Romania gathered all the ingredients necessary to make it a long term profi table investment ground Key facts* Population Bucharest 1.88m Unemployment rate 2.1% Gross average monthly salary 3,258 RON (€738) New completions added approximately 100,000 sqm of modern offi ce space during 2013, representing The local market currently suffers from a short- an evident increase compared to the entire of last age of quality offi ces with large fl oor plates in the year when only 60,450 sqm were completed. At most sought-after areas of Bucharest. The take- the end of 2013, the offi ce stock reached 2.76m up activity was in decline with approximately sqm, while the available stock was approximately 174,000 sqm secured mainly by IT&C and serv- 400,000 sqm, of which 56% is B-class premises. ice providing companies. After three consecutive Although secondary supply is growing fast due years with virtually fl at leasing activity, the local to relocations of tenants, occupiers looking for A- market recorded a fall of 28.5% in 2013 com- class offi ces had fewer options compared to 2012. pared to 2012. BNP Paribas Real Estate 2014 – INVESTING IN ROMANIA 9 tainable demand and slow development activity, which balanced the downward pressure on rents exercised by tenants. Rents for centrally located B-class offi ces fl uctu- ate between €13-15 sqm/mth, whilst in second- ary areas, rental levels generally range between €10-12 sqm/mth. Although peripheral submar- kets are still recording a high rate of vacancy, the rental levels remained unchanged at €7-9 sqm/ mth, with offi ces located in the western periph- eral submarket at the higher end of the range. Total investment in the local market in 2013 amounted around €242m, this fi gure exclusively representing the offi ce segment (€220m).