Romanians build 52,206 housing units in 2016, up by more than 5,200 units from 2015

Romanians in 2016 built 52,206 housing units, up 5,222 from 2015, most of which were recorded in the North-West development region, according to data released by the National Statistics Institute (INS). Compared with 2015, the highest percentage of the new housing units in 2016 was recorded in the urban areas (53.4 percent) while new such units in the countryside declined 46.6 percent. A breakdown by funding sources for completed housing units shows the number of units built on private funds in 2016 was up by 5,291 units from 2015, while the units completed on public funds decreased by 69 units. The rise in completed housing units by development regions shows North - West first (+2491 units), followed by the regions North-East (+1262), South-East (+979), West (+694), Center (+535) and South-Muntenia (+379).

Drops were reported in the development regions Bucharest-Ilfov (-1060 units) and South- West Oltenia (-58).

According to the INS, 15,249 housing units were commissioned in Q4 2016, down by 564 from Q4 2015.

The number of housing units built in urban areas dropped by 10.9 percent in Q4 2016 y-o-y, while the units in the countryside were up 4.8 percent.

By funding sources, Q4 2016 witnessed an annual drop by 661 units built on private funds and a rise by 97 units in those built on public money.