The number of new housing units completed in Q1 reached 12,714 units, 17.3% more than in the same period last year, Romania’s statistics office, INS, announced.

The construction of residential buildings surged by 70% in 2017 and remained at an elevated level since then while the other segments of the construction sector posted significant growth rates no sooner than 2019. In Q1 this year, the construction of residential buildings intensified by another 22% to a level that was (in seasonally adjusted terms) some 25% above the peak level reached in the fall of 2008 before the credit crunch.

The new housing units delivered in Bucharest and neighbouring Ilfov county in Q1 this year surged by 76%, to 3,894 units, and accounted for more than a quarter of the total, up from 17.4% in Q1 2019.

Growth rates of over 30% were also reported in Romania's Centre and Southeast regions, where 18% and respectively 11.2% of the new units were delivered. After Bucharest, the regions are among the wealthiest and their stronger growth indicate that the discrepancies are widening.

The Centre region includes the counties in central Transylvania, namely Brasov, Sibiu, Alba, Mures, Harghita, and Covasna. The Southeast region consists of the Black Sea coast and the Danube Delta.

Meanwhile, the less affluent northeastern counties recorded a sharp 30% contraction in new house deliveries. Northeast is the poorest region in Romania and among the last in the EU by GDP per capita.