2024 Real Estate Market Predictions and 2023 Property Decisions Retrospective
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A large part of those who plan to make a real estate purchase in 2024 anticipate a decrease in housing prices (60% of respondents). At the same time, owners who want to sell or rent mostly expect prices to rise, both for apartments for sale (39% of respondents) and for rent (40%). Regarding the evolution of mortgage interest rates in 2024, the majority of respondents (38%) predict a decrease in them, according to the latest survey of users of Storia, the real estate platform launched by OLX.
Home buyers closed on 2023 purchases in less than 3 months
In 2023, 60% of survey respondents said they intended to buy a home, and 14% intended to sell. 10% said they were interested in renting and 1% said they wanted to rent a property. However, 15% of respondents stated that they had no real estate intention. For respondents who bought a property in 2023, the process from starting the search to completing the purchase took less than 3 months (56%), while for 21% of respondents it took between 3-6 months, for 11% – between 6 and 12 months, and 12% needed more than 12 months to search for and complete a home purchase.
When asked how easy they expected the entire search and purchase process to be, most respondents said they expected a medium level of difficulty (48%), followed by an easy level (40%). 12% of platform users mentioned that they expected the process to be difficult. Finally, the majority said the process was just as they imagined (43%), 30% said the process was easier, while 27% said the process was harder than they anticipated.
38% of those who purchased a property stated that there were times when they stopped looking for the desired home, the main reasons mentioned being: the properties of interest exceeded the budget (58%) or the difficulty of finding suitable properties (35%). Another 35% stated that they waited to see the evolution of prices. In terms of compromises made, 38% said they had to supplement their budget, and 19% changed their search area. However, another 17% of those who bought state that they did not have to make any compromises in choosing the home.
When asked about financial challenges in the process, 32% said they did not experience significant difficulties. However, 18% highlighted the increase in the rate for a property previously purchased with credit and 12% specified that the amount of the advance exceeded the budget, while another 10% highlighted the increase in the prices of homes for sale.
Real estate plans for 2024
When asked what their real estate intentions are for the year 2024, the respondents of the study gave answers similar to those of 2023. Still most respondents (66%) declare that they would like to buy a home, and 13% want to sell. 10% of respondents say they have no real estate plans, while 8% want to rent a property and 3% want to find tenants.
In terms of home prices for sale, 60% of those interested in buying say they expect prices to fall, 16% say they expect them to rise and 14% expect them to stagnate. Similarly, most renters expect prices to fall (43%) for rental properties. However, 28% expect increases and 22% said prices are likely to stagnate. At the same time, owners who want to sell or rent mostly expect prices to rise, both for apartments for sale (39% of respondents) and for rental housing (40%).
“Analyzing the survey data, we can see that the expectations of Romanians reflect personal interests, so that those looking for housing hope for price reductions, and those who sell or rent expect increases. However, in the first half of January, contacts on our platform increased by 53% compared to the same month last year. Therefore, we have to take into account the fact that the fiscal measures adopted and the increasing demand registered in the first weeks of January rather suggest a trend of price increases,” said Monica Dudău, Marketing Manager Storia & OLX Imobiliare.
When asked about the evolution of mortgage interest rates, most of the study participants (38%) answered that they expect a decrease, while 27% anticipate an increase. Another considerable part (17%) believes that interest rates will remain constant, while 18% feel uncertain about the evolution of interest rates.
The data shows that in 2024, users on the Storia platform intend to view real estate ads (62% of all respondents), and 53% said they want to view their properties of interest. In addition, a large proportion intended to consult a broker or bank for credit options (35%). Users also aim to follow real estate news (24%), while 22% aim to work with a real estate agent.
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