Facing global and domestic uncertainties, Romanian and European industrial and logistics leasing registered declines and drops in confidence, according to Colliers real estate experts.<\/p>\n
Demand for leasing logistics and industrial space fell to 80,000 square metres in the first quarter of 2026, according to Colliers data, which includes only transactions for which public information is available. Direct deals between landlords and tenants lift the actual level of activity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Similarly, economic confidence among logistics sector companies in Romania declined sharply in the same period, marking the fifth-largest drop in the European Union relative to each country’s historical average, according to Eurostat data cited by Colliers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Romania was surpassed only by Slovakia, Germany, Belgium, and Hungary in terms of poorer results. The downturn is also reflected in the logistics property market, where leasing demand fell by 56% compared to the first quarter of 2025, to approximately 80,000 square metres.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Leasing for manufacturing operations saw a much more positive result, Colliers consultants noted. Although confidence remains slightly below its usual average, Romania ranks mid-table across Europe, indicating a degree of resilience within the parts of the industrial sector.<\/p>\n
\u201dThe decline in industrial and logistics leasing follows a record year in 2025 and points rather to a temporary cooling of activity than to a structural shift in the market. The local logistics and industrial property market is in a balancing act between short-term pressures and long-term potential,\u201d said Victor Co\u0219conel, Partner and Head of Leasing | Office & Industrial Agencies at Colliers.<\/p>\n
A significant part of market activity in this period is driven by renegotiations and space optimisation. Nevertheless, in the first quarter of 2026, nearly three-quarters of the recorded leases can be considered new demand, indicating that the market remains relatively robust, Colliers experts underlined.<\/p>\n
Moreover, over half of the contracts relate to manufacturing space, a significantly higher share than the \u201dnormal\u201d average in Romania in recent years, which stood at around 20% in peak years and below 10% in the pre-pandemic period.<\/p>\n
\u201dWe do not believe that the real estate market can be assessed based on a single weaker quarter, particularly given that the fundamentals supporting Romania in the long term remain solid. This is also supported by favorable elements in the demand structure, such as the high share of new demand in the first quarter, as well as the strong weighting of manufacturing spaces,\u201d Victor Co\u0219conel added, referencing ongoing infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n
Relative to its population and the size of its economy, Romania still faces a significant shortage of industrial and logistics space compared with other Central and Eastern European markets. At the same time, structural advantages such as competitive costs and labour productivity continue to support investor interest in this sector.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The stock of modern industrial and logistics space exceeded 8 million square metres and could surpass 9 million by the end of next year, provided that the growing interest from developers is supported by stronger occupier demand. The long-term potential remains high, and by the end of the next decade, stock could reach 15 million square metres, assuming a relatively stable external environment and continued investment in infrastructure.<\/p>\n
radu@romania-insider.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n (Photo source:\u00a0Ronstik<\/a>|Dreamstime.com<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Facing global and domestic uncertainties, Romanian and European industrial and logistics leasing registered declines and drops in confidence, according to Colliers real estate experts. Demand for leasing logistics and industrial space fell to 80,000 square metres in the first quarter of 2026, according to Colliers data, which includes only transactions for which public information is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9847\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}