Over the recent years, the high level of demand against offers has determined a constant increase in apartment prices, be they old or new. If the prices growth in the residential ensembles announced in the market may be justify by a series of more or less objectives factors, not the same can be said about the evolution of the prices in the old buildings apartments, which deteriorate with every passing year. In the case of the latter, the successive waves of price hikes, not few times categorized as artificial, have only been the result of the regulatory mechanism of demand and offer. This is how, at present, the price/sq m of an old apartment has become to exceed its equivalent in a new apartment – thus, not in few cases the buyer finds he has to pay even 2,000€/ sq m when buying a 30 year old dwelling.

From the start of 2008 there was registering a decrease in prices for old apartments in Bucharest. This trend was more pronounced in May, compared to April, this being the second decrease in the prices for flats this year, after the one register in February. February was the first month in the past three years in which prices dropped. Thus, if in January the average price for an apartment in Bucharest was 1,826€/sq m, in February the price dropped to 1,776€/sq m. In March, the price climbed to 1,887€ and in April it went to 1,888€. Compared to the first quarter of 2007, prices had increased by 34%.

District 3 is the only one to see an increase in prices, even though the increase was of only 2%, while District 1 remains the most expensive in Bucharest, with a level of 2,208 €/ sq m, followed by District 4, with 1,948 €/ sq m.

The lowest value for apartment prices is register in district 6, with a bit below 1,600€/sq m, especially due to the homogenous nature of the District, focused almost entirely on the middle class of the market. Specialist estimate for this year the prices for new apartments will be between 1,150€ - 2,200€/ sq m, plus VAT, and they will stagnate, while flats in old buildings might become cheaper by percentage between 5 and 15%.