RSS
Romania, second in shopping malls market in the region by 2013
Over the upcoming couple of years, Romania is to become the second market in the region in point of shopping centres' gross leasable area behind Poland but ahead of Hungary and the Czech Republic, in the context of the ongoing market development, reveals the development forecast 'Shopping centres in Central Europe 2011' conducted by market analysis company PMR Publications.
Romania used to have a 9 percent market share of the shopping malls in 2007 out of the six countries in the region (Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania) but that went up to 16 percent in 2010 out of a 12 million square metres of gross leasable area, reads Ziarul Financiar daily about the report.
The share of the local shopping centre market might reach 18 percent by 2013. Doubling the market share from 2007 to 2013 could be possible by developing new shopping malls with a gross leasable area of 1.3 million square metres, the same as it was built between 2007 and 2010, whereas the total surface in the area might grow by 6 million square metres to 18 million square metres.
'The investors in Romania plan to open new spaces with a 1.3 million square metres gross leasing area by 2013, so that the Romanian market will surpass the Czech Republic in point of gross leasable area of shopping centres,' according to the forecast authors. Poland will remain the largest market in the region with about 45 percent of the shopping malls in the region.
There are more than ten shopping centres underway, in various stages of building, with a cumulated gross leasable area of 0.5 million square metres and finishing deadlines by late 2012.
Bucharest along with several Romanian cities can still absorb shopping centres in various areas whereas the consultants rely on the smaller differences in purchasing power as compared to the Western markets, on medium and long term. Under these circumstances, the local market of the shopping centres could reach and exceed three million square metres, reads Ziarul Financiar daily.