Landlords increasingly prefer to outsource building management, 80 pct of office space is run by specialist companies

The share of externally-managed properties has increased in the past years on the retail and office segments, so that 79 percent of the new projects were run by external management services in 2017 as to 24 percent in 2015, reveals a CBRE expert survey. 

Experts estimate that 2018 will see a new momentum for the industrial sector in terms of asset management outsourcing. 

In the beginning, property management on the local market was done exclusively with in-house resources. The first segment to break with this custom in Romania were commercial centers, mainly for cost efficiency reasons, as they turned to seasoned multi-discipline teams that bring together know-how, experience and training, the analysts argue. 

The preference for outsourcing is also noticeable on the office building market that has seen a spectacular development in the last three years. Whereas only 24 percent of office buildings handed over in 2015 were outsourcing property management services, in 2016 the share had increased to 57 percent, and in 2017 it hit almost 80 percent. The development of the expert property management market is on a constant upward trend. 

In 2015, the stock of new office space stood at 73,000 sqm of which 17,700 sqm or 24 percent sought external building management services; of the 294,000 sqm of office floor handed over in 2016, 167,300 sqm (57 percent of the total) were placed under external management. In 2017 the segment advanced closer to maturity: of the total 123,000 sqm of completed office floor 79 percent or 97,300 sqm were placed under external management. 

The increase in demand for outsourced property management is, in the experts' opinion, a positive phenomenon and a sign that the local real estate market is maturing. The use of professional services translates in higher quality and cost cuts, generating substantial savings for the landlord and better experience for tenants and customers. 

According to CBRE representatives, after the retail and office segment, in 2018 it will be the turn of the industrial sector to take the spotlight in terms of externally managed projects.