ByProperty Secrets' Investment Broker

Last time I talked about my search for the next TriCity area - that booming property hotspot on Poland's northern coast - basically the three cities of Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia, where affluent Poles go to relax at the weekend.

Well, I've found it - it's in Romania and it's called Constanta.

I'll tell you why this place is going to boom in a moment. But first, let's be clear about the character of the property market in both Tri City and Constanta.

The TriCity area is certainly where affluent Poles go to relax at the weekend; and this is the role Constanta will have as well.

But - and this is the KEY feature of Constanta in particular - it should not in any way be confused with a holiday destination investment. Because it isn't!

And the deal we are currently running, which I've finally pinned down after many weeks, offers the classic scenario of a development near the sea that has nothing to do with offering holiday homes.

There are two BIG reasons why this matters.

Vital exit strategy

First, and most importantly, it means your exit strategy is clear.

If you buy a holiday home you are dependent on the fickleness of the holiday market and probably the latest budget airline route bringing in people who will want to rent your property. An airline that may decide to close that route!

When you want to sell, it'll probably be to another investor. Nothing wrong with this as such, but it is a completely different market from the one being offered by Residenz Constanta.

Here, when you sell, you will be taking advantage of local demand and you will almost certainly sell to the domestic market. And that's great, because it means you know your exit strategy, which is always vital.

First development of its kind

What is on offer with Residenz Constanta is a wholly new lifestyle concept - at least it is for Romanians.

This is, as far as I know, the first development of its kind in the country and the whole idea is already blowing the socks off Romanians who realise they can now afford this kind of lifestyle - reasonably affluent families in the main. Reasonably affluent by Romanian standards, of course. Which makes these units very affordable by our standards.

What Residenz Constanta represents to the aspirational, middle class Romanian is a kind of coming of age in terms of a modern, Western-like lifestyle - with everything that represents packaged into one location, right next to one of the most attractive coastal locations in the region.

This development, in the main, is going to appeal to people who work in the city and who want to live an affluent lifestyle with all facilities on hand.

Up to now we've had lots of developments, mainly in the capital, that are fairly small and compact.

Residenz Constanta is different because the development will be a whole community - schools, restaurants, shops, swimming pools.

So, who will come and rent and live here?

Retirees, well-off middle class families and young professionals. If they work, they will do so in nearby Constanta proper, which is Romania's major port and has ultra-low levels of unemployment.

Plus, it will appeal to Romanians living and working in Bucharest as a weekend retreat. Once the new highway between Constanta and the capital is complete - and it's about 75 per cent finished - the drive time will be cut to around 90 minutes.

The important thing to understand is that the property market in Constanta has barely begun to develop - certainly it doesn't appear on many investors' radar screens yet. But it's going to. Big time!

Let me tell you how uncanny the resemblance between Constanta and the Tri City area is. And then the numbers that show why this matters anyway!

Both places are coastal. Both are key ports. Both have the best beaches in their respective countries. Both have excellent employment levels with an increasing number of jobs coming on stream. Both have thriving economies completely independent of being popular holiday and weekend destinations.

The TriCity area is around a two and a half hour drive from Warsaw. Constanta, as I say, will actually be quicker to reach from Bucharest once the new connecting highway is finished.

Constanta even looks a similar shape to the Gdansk area on the map. It is very enclosed and a long spit of land almost forms an inland lagoon.

Carrefour has just finished a massive superstore just outside the town, which tells us something of consumer demand prospects.

Now for some numbers. There are just two developments taking place of any size in Constanta right now. The place hasn't even started to exploit its potential.

So, what have prices done in the TriCity area of Poland? Well, TriCity has seen incredible growth as anyone who has invested there knows. Prices are now on a par with Warsaw, at between €2,600 (PLN10,000) and €3,000 (PLN12,000) psm.

And in Constanta?

Around €750 psm. Says it all really, doesn't it?