The prices of new Bucharest apartments have dropped, almostthree years since the onset of the real estate crisis, by just15-17% in a series of housing complexes, a "discount" that forpotential buyers is practically cancelled out by the 13% leudepreciation. Over 90% of Romanian employees are paid in lei,without taking into account the trend of the national currencyagainst the euro.
In April 2008, when Bucharest apartment prices started goingdown, the euro/leu exchange rate stood at 3.64 lei, while in March2011 it reached 4.16 lei. During the same interval, averagesalaries nationwide remained constant, with increases in certainsectors being offset by budgetary system cuts.
Under the circumstances, some developers collected in the samelei sum for built apartment.
The major difference for house buyers is the VAT rate, cut from19% to 5% for apartments with areas of below 120 square metres andwith prices lower than 380,000 lei, but this almost 12% price cutwas covered from the state budget, not hurting real estatedevelopers' margins.
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