Who was it who said that Romania was a poor country? Maybe whoever came up with that line should really have learnt not to judge a book by its cover. In August 2007, as I take the bus from Otepeni airport to downtown Bucharest, I admire the panorama, dotted with building cranes jutting out from green, wooded areas on either side and extending far into the distance behind the IKEA retail store, the future and exclusive Baneasa Business Park, and emerging Retail space on the outskirts of this great city. Suddenly stuck in a traffic jam, i observe how major roadworks and the construction of an improved motorway and infrastructure towards the exclusive northern area is literally changing the face of this city and what it is and will be. Anyone lucky enough to have bought into quality developments such as Quadra Place should be thanking their lucky stars because nowadays it isn´t so easy to get a piece of this low-priced, high quality action in good areas of the capital. Yes sirs - we are talking about a city which has boomed by 30% in first 6 months of 2007, in fact studio apartments in certain areas such as Piata Victoria, Piata Romana and Unirii etc. have probably gone up a lot more.50% could be a more realistic figure for some property. Gone are the days when good 2 beds were on the market in good areas for 60,000euro. Now we are talking more of 100,000euro, and in very little time. And further from the centre. This market is moving fast and similar to Madrid 7 years ago or Valencia 5 years ago, prices are going up by the week or even by the day. Fail to capatilise on a good opportunity and you have literally missed the boat cos when u come back the next day, yes I am really sorry sir, it is sold. Its a shame there are so many ´Panelaks´ aka Communist style apartment blocks, dirty grey affairs making up a large proportion of the cheaper housing stock especially further out in suburbs. But guess what, its selling cos some Romanians feel some of this stock is solidly built and as in any city it is often very well located for rental or other purposes. Near transport, main arteries etc. But lets not confuse shoddy grey buildings and pre-1930 architectural masterpieces. For that kind of property you will pay a premium and more so in a good area. To sum up, Romania offers so many different opportunities. FDI is pouring in, EU funds are on the way, tourism is increasing significantly. 2 members of many Romanian households work in Italy, Spain, Uk etc and send all money back home or set-up businesses when they return. Refurb jobs are visible all over bucharest and this place is on the up. Most Romanians own their own property, they don´t like to rent, only buy. My experience of the people has been quite dynamic and business-like and hard-working. I have never seen a limousine in Madrid. In Romania I saw 4 or 5 of them in a week. It says something. All the makings of an interesting property market. by Liam Deasy

Liam - thanks for the post. Very informative indeed and I feel pleased to have already invested into Bucharest but what about the next investment? Do you prefer Bucharest for future investments or do you think it is better to look at second tier cities in Romania?

Hi Liam thanks - I agree - most people - especially Brits and Spaniards have a very different view of Bucharest from the reality. Why is that, do you think? My suggestions are the following i) Bucharest is moving so fast it is hard to keep up and so any review is outdated as soon as it is published? ii) some parts of Romania are dirt poor and will remain so - (ie there is no smoke without fire) iii) other parts (Transylvania) of Romania are more like southern Germany (yes, Germany - with Saxon villages and German Mayors - and a townscape that would rival Disney's Beauty and the Beast) iv) most Brits and Spaniards judge Romania by the Romanian people they have met in their own country I(often these guys have a poor reputation because they come from the very poor parts of the country - ie that is why they immigrated into the black economy of Spain and UK before the EU allowed them to (sort of) work officially) v) most Brits and Spaniards haven't been there! Which do you think are most important? Cheers Neil

Hello Liam, I would like to make it clear that I love Romania as a country and even married one of its citizens, but I think your comments need to be balanced to avoid over hyping. Bucharest is not Romania and Northern Bucharest does not represent the whole city. Yes there is a huge amount of development which any tourist will see during their journey from the airport to the city center, but the communist style blocks you refer to actually represent the majority of city dwellers homes.They live in them out of necessity and not choice. Yes Bucharest is booming as are many of the second tier cities and much of this is down to the pre accession funding during the 3-4 years prior to Jan 2007, but lets get real about the country. There is a massive divide between the very rich and the rest...one only has to take a train ride out of Bucharest to see the real Romania. It would be a tradgedy if Romania ends up having an overhyped invester driven market as witnessed by parts of Bulgaria.

Hi Alan, Thanks for your opinion. I am not sure what will happen to Romanian market in next year but I was in places like Cluj, Brasov etc. and a lot of the property there is being sold to Romanians. I met a 31-yr old Romanian friend in Cluj-Napoca last week and he had just bought a 80,000€, 3 bed flat in a normal area.Communist flat which needs a bit of renovation, 15 minute bus ride from city centre. If he had paid a little more he could have got an off-plan with fewer square metres but something nice. Any kind of decent flat in Cluj or Bucharest is fast approaching the 100,000€ barrier. I think one can get a studio, 1 or 2 bed in bucharest for the price of a 3 bed in Cluj or other smaller cities. Which city would the serious investors consider investing in...? Western romania is quite wealthy and some of the cities are as good as any Spanish ones. Read the PS blogs by Neil on Romania, i would agree with these articles having travelled there for 3 weeks. Some of the cities in Romania have quite good rental markets because thay are university cities.Off plan definitely has good potential for discount prices from what I have seen there. Any advice on best areas to invest in in Romania. A small 2 bed in bucharest? A 3 bed in Cluj? A 3 bed in Iasi or Oradea or Suceava or one of those less well known cities which should also increase in future?? Thanks, Liam

I'm wondering where to invest next. I've already bought one off plan in Brasov through PS, which hopefully should do well. I want to buy a second flat in Romania, but the Bucharest price increases and less favourable deposit percentages are pushing it out of my comfort zone. I like the sound of Cluj, and might take a trip out there in September to see it for myself.