Jay Gold, the famous speculator, once said: "The perfect speculator must know when to come in; most important, he must know when to stay out; and most important, he must know when to get out once he's in!"
For someone who has money, enough patience and is willing to apply the American businessman's precepts, the Constitution amendment project provides the opportunity to start some very rewarding businesses, in case the legislation of land circulation is modified. In fact, these businesses may have already started...
The Parliamentary Commission has agreed that foreign citizens and stateless people could acquire property rights over land, under certain conditions, but this stipulation will only be enforced in a couple of years. It is worth noting the Constitution revision is only beginning and the most optimistic deadline for completion is 2004.
The decisions reached by the Parliamentary Commission will take the long and winding road of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, and then the new Constitution will be submitted to a referendum. So far, foreigners could only have access to land through companies registered in Romania.
When the new Constitution variant enters effect, the citizens of countries other than European Union members will be able to acquire ownership rights over lands. On one condition: Romania must have bilateral treaties with their countries of origin and these treaties must stipulate reciprocity.
A special law, to be adopted by Parliament, will specify the conditions that must be met by these foreign citizens in order to be granted property rights over Romanian lands.
The citizens of EU member countries will have to wait even longer. They can get property rights over lands in at least ten or twelve years. More exactly, five years after Romania's EU accession for the lands outside localities and seven years for those lands inside localities.
According to the official data released by the Ministry of Agriculture last month, the price of one hectare of Romanian land revolved around 135.13 million ROL (about 4,000 US dollars) for land inside localities and 8.17 million ROL (about 250 dollars) for the lands located outside localities. In Western and Eastern Europe, prices can double (8,000 dollars/ha in France, 10,000 dollars in Holland, 9,000 dollars in Slovakia and 6,000 dollars in Poland).
According to analysts, land prices are not likely to explode under these new circumstances. Prices may go up 5-10%, but the number of transactions will significantly increase, they say. On the other hand, experience shows that the new regulations could spark interest in lands located in certain areas, with a high potential for development.
"The main effect of this decision will be higher demand, since the segment of potential clients will also include the natural persons that were not allowed to own land in Romania," says Alexandru Nitescu, head of the project and investment department of real estate company Regatta.
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