The interest shown by Romanians for the houses for rent remains strong, and in a context marked by a limited offer, prices have increased slightly in some of the big cities in the country. And Romanians’ earnings are increasing.
Even if the local rental market is not the most expensive in the country, residents of Brasov need more than half of their monthly salary to pay their rent. Renting a house is, on the other hand, affordable for the people of Timisoara who pay for an apartment about a third of the money earned in a month.
“While the tenants in Brasov pay more than half of a salary for rent, the rental cost in Timisoara represents approximately one third of the average net salary, showing large discrepancies from one city to another. Timisoara thus remains the most accessible and attractive large city from the perspective of income versus rent. On the other hand, although rents continue to rise, we still observe a slowing down of the pace, as a result of the increased interest in the purchase of housing”, said Daniel Crainic, Imobiliare.ro marketing director, who carried out an analysis to see how much money from the monthly income Romanians pay for rent.
The rents in Brasov are close to those in Bucharest, but not the salaries
With an average net salary of 4,588 lei and an average amount requested by the owners for 2-room apartments of 2,380 lei/month, the residents of Brasov end up giving 52% of their earnings on rent, according to the calculations made by Imobiliare.ro based on internally collected data and the latest information published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS). It is also important to mention the fact that Braşov ranks third nationally in the list of the most expensive cities for renters. The owners increased the asking rents for 2-room apartments by 20% in 12 months, more than in Cluj-Napoca or Bucharest, where prices increased by 17% and 11%, respectively.
Braşov County is the fourth in Romania in terms of the total number of employees, being exceeded only by Bucharest, Cluj and Timiş, and the average net salary earned by employees is the seventh highest in the country and increased by 18% compared to the beginning of 2023 Those who work in industry and construction earn above the county average. The market in Braşov is significantly influenced by the activity in the short-term rental segment, which is extremely attractive for small investors who want to secure their money in real estate investments and understand the tourist potential of the city, also supported by the new airport.
The return that can be obtained by renting a 2-room apartment in the central area as a hotel is a good one, of about 4,000 lei/month, according to the information collected by Imobiliare.ro from the market, if we take into account an occupancy rate of 60%, maintenance costs and an average price of about 350 lei/night.
The rents requested by the owners in Cluj-Napoca are the lowest in the country, but the incomes at the local level are also high, being exceeded only by those obtained by the employees in Bucharest. Moreover, they are almost 19% above the national average and have increased compared to the beginning of last year. An employee gets an average net salary of 5,766 lei, and if he wants to rent a 2-room apartment in Cluj-Napoca, he has to pay 2,609 lei/month, equivalent to 45% of his earnings.
A significant proportion of the salary goes to pay the rent in Iaşi as well. At the county level, the sixth highest average net salary in the country is obtained. If in March last year, the budget needed to rent a 2-room apartment was around 1,790 lei/month, now it has reached 1,988 lei/month, according to Imobiliare.ro data. This amount is equivalent to 42% of the salary.
Employees from the Capital earn the highest salaries, but the rents are also up to par, even if in March they remained at the same level as at the beginning of 2024. Thus, you need 40% of a salary of 6,136 lei to- cover your rent expenses.
It is important to underline the fact that the rental market in Bucharest has the most varied offer, thus the differences between the prices requested by the owners can be considerable. If in areas in the north of the city you pay 6,000 lei/month or even more to rent an apartment, in the south you need a budget of about 1,750 lei/month to pay the rent.
The average net salary in Timiş is 5,278 lei, the third highest in the country, after that obtained by employees in Bucharest and Cluj, INS data show. The rents requested in Timişoara are, on the other hand, the lowest among the main regional centers of Romania. To rent a 2-room apartment, you need, on average, 1,888 lei/month, so you have to allocate 36% of your income to pay the rent.
