Homes built in rural and peri-urban areas, a market that attracts 1-1.5 billion euros in annual investments, brought significant revenues to producers and distributors of construction materials, although the overall constructions market fell by around 30%, according to managers attending the ZF Expert meeting themed "How to restart the economy." The money sent home by Romanians working abroad, and Romanians’ inclination towards moving outside urban agglomerations are the main factors behind the development of homes in rural areas.
"The market of peri-urban and rural homes will continue to grow, because its expansion occurred in an uncontrolled manner, based on the funds available to those interested in building a home. Bucharest’s population will continue to rise and, considering there is no more room for development in the city centre, Romanians will turn to the outskirts of cities," says architect Cristi Cocioba, executive manager of the Constructions, Architecture and Urban Development Data Bank (BICAU), an interface between design engineers and distributors of construction materials. The constructions market could drop by 30-40%, to around 10-11 billion euros this year, compared with 14.3 billion euros last year, but investments in individual homes will not be affected to the same extent.
"Only in the next two-three years will the constructions market resume growth, with the commercial and the industrial sector being the most affected at present, sectors where projects have been blocked," says Madalina Dumitru, marketing manager of metal structures producer Ruukki Romania.
The experts concluded that, in order to boost home construction in urban areas, massive investments need to be made in infrastructure and utilities, and the interest rate on mortgage loans should fall below 6%, similar to levels in developed European Union countries.
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