'It is understandable that investors should have these concerns - especially as a lot of so called property investment groups invite developers to add 10 to15% to the price (this was reported to me by an experienced developer who was recently working in the Budapest, Hungary market) before selling it on to the UK investor. It is also a valid concern since the black sea coast is not far from here - and again the agent commissions on many of these apartments are very high (15% typically- which is why agents are so keen to promote them!).' This is exactly what I foungd in Budapest. The agents there were pricing in euros to the Brits/Irish at around 20-30% more than the Forint price. When I asked if I could pay the Forint price advertised in Hungarian on their website I was fobbed off. Not sure about Romania but if an agent is marking up by 10-15% to foreign buyers then it is a problem. Good to see PS operate differently.

However, investors still considering Romania may need to hurry to avoid further prices rises or quite soon will probably have missed the boat in some of the more obvious areas - such as the central areas of Bucharest. How long do you predict this "miss the boat" time frame to be, 1 month? 3months? 6month? etc

Hi Tom Interesting that you found the same issue. The developer I spoke to said he was really concerned about this practise and insisted that the Brit/ Irish agent put HIS name and brand on the units - and that he could not use the name and brand of the developer... ... for exactly the reason you state - he didn't want calls from foreign investors who had paid more for the priviledge of buying from a Brit. You could get a bit jaded with some of things you see in this business, couldn't you! Cheers Neil

Hi Rick - I reckon that by Dec 07 some areas / districts of Bucharest will be too expensive. Could happen faster - if the developers get to confident. We'll just have to watch it carefully, but I see us (ie Property Secrets) dropping more deals than before in Bucharest because the value propisition isn't clear. We'll just have to be selective. Cheers Neil

Will PS be offering one last gasp development in Bucharest before everything starts to slow down?

Hi Alan Err... it is not a one last gasp.... ... more a matter of picking more carefully... There are still lots of opportunities in Bucharest - but prices are rising sharply (how sharply we will know in Sept) and every missed deal is a missed price point. In the same way as Warsaw, we expect that our deals will come from increasingly restricted neighbourhoods and that we'll be turning down more and more deals... But, Bucharest still has some way to go in general - a long way on specific deals. The thing is that it is moving v. fast - hence, I don't know when the end date will be. I've seen some very exciting deals and some 'okay' deals in Bucharest. The time to be selective is already with us! Cheers Neil