Buying an apartment in Romania's major cities is becoming increasingly difficult despite rising wages

The European context shows explosive dynamics in the real estate market, with housing prices in the EU rising by over 50% between 2015 and 2025. The Romanian market recorded an even higher increase during this period, of 61%, although it is still below the EU average in terms of price per square meter: Bucharest: €1,797/m² in 2022, Sofia: €1,635/m² versus €2,110/m² in Madrid and over €3,000/m² in Berlin or Amsterdam. Although buying an apartment is becoming increasingly difficult for Romanians in large cities, some commentators say that these major increases in real estate prices are offset by the wage increases recorded in Romania in recent years.

In Bucharest, a resident with an average salary can buy one square meter of residential space in the city center for the equivalent of 2.7 monthly salaries and one outside the center for 1.5 average monthly salaries. In Cluj-Napoca, the situation is even more difficult, as one square meter in the center costs the equivalent of three average monthly salaries, and outside the center 2.2 salaries. For comparison, the cost/salary indicator for a square meter in other European cities shows that in Berlin, Amsterdam, or Sofia, a square meter costs approximately 2.4 monthly salaries. In Madrid, a city that is highly sought after by foreign buyers, the cost of a square meter of residential space in the city center is equivalent to 3.2 monthly salaries, which is nearly the same as in Cluj-Napoca.

Although the price/income ratio is apparently similar between large cities in Romania and the rest of Europe, there is a major difference that is not reflected in these figures: the burden of daily living costs in Romania is much higher relative to income, including compared to other countries in Eastern or Southern Europe, such as Greece or Bulgaria. Romanians spend approximately 31.3% of their salary on food and clothing alone, compared to less than 20% in Western Europe and approximately 24% in Bulgaria. Thus, even if the price of an apartment relative to income seems only slightly higher than in the rest of the EU, the real savings space for purchase is greatly diminished in Romania's major cities. This difference makes buying a home significantly more difficult for Romanian residents.

Difficult access to new housing remains a major problem even in the most prosperous cities in Romania: limited supply and high demand keep pressure on prices and make access to decent housing even more difficult for young people and families with average incomes.

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Data source:

• Average income and housing prices: numbeo.com
• Percentage of income spent on food, non-alcoholic beverages, and clothing: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/NAMA_10_CO3_P3__custom_17547527/default/table?page=time:2022

Data processing and text design: Dani Sandu

Infographic: Pascalone Media SRL

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