The most active companies were those from manufacturing/industrial sector, followed by logistics, automotive and retail and the average deal size was of 3,500 sqm, according to the same source.

The market is more dynamic and the fact that it is stimulated by new companies active in manufacturing offers a new perspective to warehouse and logistics space developers, said Rodica Tarcavu, head of the industrial department at DTZ Echinox. “Given that over the past four years the main growth engine for this sector have been ‘built-to-suit’ spaces, we estimate that starting 2015 developers will reconsider the option of speculative developments, both in Bucharest and in the main cities,” she added.

Romania’s total stock of modern industrial and logistics spaces at the end of H1 2014 was of 1.8 million sqm. More than half of this – 53 percent or about 930,000 sqm – is located in Bucharest. Outside the capital, the largest cities in terms of modern warehouses are Ploiesti, Timisoara, Brasov, Pitesti, Arad and Cluj Napoca.

The average vacancy rate for logistics and industrial spaces in Romania is of 8 percent with a higher rate in the capital – 10 percent. The average vacancy rate outside Bucharest at the end of H1 2014 was of 6 percent and goes as low as zero percent in Cluj-Npoca, Brasov, Pitesti and Oradea.

“There were no major changes regarding the rental level during the first six months of 2014. Prime headline rents for modern logistics warehouses are situated between EUR 3.6 – 3.9 /sqm/ month. The net effective rental level is lower by 10 – 20 percent,” according to DTZ Echinox data. (Source: business-review.eu)