A young woman from Spain has gone viral on social media after claiming that buying an apartment in Cluj-Napoca can actually be more expensive than in Madrid. Although homes are almost half the price, she says high mortgage rates completely change the calculus.
Sara Senent, originally from Spain and settled in Romania for a long time, published on her TikTok account a video in which she compares the real costs of buying a home in Cluj-Napoca and in Madrid. According to her, the displayed price of an apartment does not always reflect the cost that buyers bear in the long term.
“Did you know that buying an apartment in Cluj could be more expensive than buying it in Madrid? And no, not because of the price. A 70 square meter apartment in Madrid costs about 420,000 euros, and in Cluj 220,000, which is half. But the most important thing is being left out: what is the real economic effort?”, says Sara Senent.
The young woman explains that she chose to compare Cluj-Napoca with Madrid because the two cities are among the most important in their countries and are among the most expensive real estate markets.
“I made a comparison with Madrid because it is the capital and the apartments are the most expensive there, and Cluj is one of the most important cities in Romania,” she says, according to mediafaxspania.
The main difference, Sara claims, is the cost of financing. While in Spain mortgage loans have interest rates of around 2%, in Romania they are, in many cases, between 6% and 8%.
“In Spain, mortgage interest is around 2%, and in Romania it is between 6% and 8%. What does this mean? That although the apartment is much cheaper, the interest rates are much higher and therefore the monthly rate ends up being very close.” explained the young woman.
Sara Senent argues that the differences between the two countries become even more evident when they are reported at the income level.
“And here comes the most surprising aspect: an average family in Cluj allocates a higher percentage of its salary to pay the mortgage than one in Madrid”. say this
Housing prices in Romania are rising at a record pace. Prices have risen almost three times above the EU average
Housing is becoming more and more expensive in Romania’s big cities, against the background of the accelerated increase in construction costs and the constant pressure on the real estate market. This is causing more and more buyers to cut their budgets, forego larger or central homes and look for more affordable alternatives.
Construction prices have exploded over the past decade, rising 130.7%, according to Eurostat data. The evolution is almost three times higher than the European average.
Specialists in the field say that this dynamic has been fueled by the increase in the price of construction materials and market pressures.
Price differences are significant between major cities. In Cluj-Napoca, the average housing price exceeded 3,300 euros per square meter in May, while in Bucharest the average is 2,288 euros per square meter, almost 1,000 euros less, according to the data presented.
