Romania’s real estate market outlook remains "highly certain," as prices will continue to increase over the next years, but the growth rate might be slower compared with the last three years, said Manfred Wimmer, CEO of Banca Comerciala Romana, the Romanian unit of Austria's Erste Bank, cited by Mediafax.

Wimmer pointed out that the average wage in Romania has increased 1.7 times since 2004 and continues to go up, but people can still afford to buy properties at current prices.

Erste estimates that wages in Romania will increase by 10% at most in 2008, in real terms, and by 15-16% in nominal terms.

The increase in wages in Romania tops Erste estimations for most countries in the region. Thus, Erste forecasts a nominal increase of nearly 7-8% in most countries in Central and Eastern Europe, except for Ukraine and Serbia where forecasts indicate a 15-20% increase in wages.

As regards Bucharest’s residential sector, 10,000 units are built on a yearly basis, while demand reaches nearly 200,000 units.