Is Moving to Romania Still Affordable? My Take on Why the “Cheap Expat” Dream is Ending

Going to the supermarket in Romania nowadays risks giving me a panic attack: prices have gone up tremendously over the past several years and, for many products, they’re close to those in Western European countries.

I was ready to declare the affordable expat dream dead. But then I took a few deep breaths and looked at the situation from a different angle.

Yes, the country is growing and getting more expensive, but the same goes for other countries around the world.

Plus, grocery prices don’t paint the full picture and it is exactly that full picture that still makes Romania a solid option for living on a budget, although gone are the days of living like royalty on 1,000 US Dollars or Euros per month!

The short version is this: Yes, moving to Romania is still a good idea, but real estate and rent are rising rapidly. All the other costs (food, utilities, services) are also climbing, but remain lower than in Western Europe.

The best opportunity is for those who can still buy property now, as they secure a highly valuable asset in a rapidly developing EU country.

Romania is still attractive for expat life

It was 2018 when I first published an article titled Prices and cost of living are increasing in Romania. This was way BEFORE the massive inflation that hit the country after the 2020 pandemic (as it hit the entire world).

Today, my family’s monthly expenses are higher than ever and prices don’t seem to stop going up.

I recently watched a popular Romanian YouTuber analyzing how a budget of at least 10,000 lei (around 2,000 Euros) is required for a decent life here nowadays for a couple.

House and apartment prices are exploding in the country, prices keep going up and apparently everything is less affordable than ever, despite local salaries doing their best to keep up.

Despite all this, Romania offers an excellent window of opportunity for those looking to live a more comfortable life than back home (on a tighter budget). If you secure a house right now, you are practically set.

Here is what makes me say this:

Ever since joining the European Union in 2007, Romania received tons of money that were invested in its infrastructure mainly, resulting in massive growth over these years.

The start was very slow, and there are various reports of improper use (or plain stealing) of the European funds, that the corrupt politicians were keeping their feet on the brakes for personal gains, and I personally believe that, more or less, this did happen.

BUT despite all this, at least some of the money started pouring into the infrastructure, into rebuilding the country, and in the past few years, things have picked up nicely.

As a result, today, Romania is more attractive than ever.

It’s still far from your big European countries like Germany, France or Spain in terms of… well… everything, but it’s growing nicely. Its people are growing nicely too – and this is extremely important.

And what I believe to be the most important aspect: it’s not going to stop growing.

Prices in Romania Will Keep Going Up

Unless there is another unexpected event to really mess things up, I think that living standards in Romania will improve tremendously in the coming years.

And this is what should make the country, right now, extremely attractive.

I don’t think that prices will go down. Not for food, not for apartments and houses, not for anything else.

I’ve seen the financial gurus, since 2020, announcing the market bubble popping, the implosion of housing prices, the horrible incoming recession… but still, despite everything, nothing happened. On the contrary – everything kept going up, from prices to salaries to markets.

I am not saying that this means nothing WILL happen: eventually, there will be a correction. But even then, prices won’t be anywhere near what they were 10 or even 5 years ago.

The same will happen with the other countries in Europe, meaning that the current differences will remain more or less the same.

My wife and I bought our apartment in Drobeta-Turnu Severin back in 2014 for 25,000 Euros (which, after renovations, ended up costing 40,000 Euros). We bought it at the absolute bottom of the market by accident.

Today, I see similar apartments in our neighborhood selling for anything between 70,000 and 75,000 Euros, and I’ve already seen some testing the water with 90,000 Euro prices.

To me, this is mind blowing and mind boggling at the same time.

Many people hope this is a bubble and that prices will drop. I highly doubt they will.

Inflation is still very high in Romania, and it has been close to 10% for over one year at a point. Currently, it is still the highest in the European Union, more than double the average. This means that costs are going up rapidly.

Still, somewhat paradoxically, people are generally living better than they ever did and most importantly, they have more money than ever.

Romania’s economy is growing and the country will, in turn, become more and more attractive to foreigners (investors or simply people looking to move here for a better quality of life).

Based on all these important factors, I don’t see prices going down. Actually, I’ve been watching the property market closely since 2018, waiting for the bubble to pop… and all that waiting was nothing but wasted opportunity.

Had I bought property back then, chances are its price would be double by now.

But despite all this, if we look at prices per square meter for property in Romania, we can see that the country is still at the bottom in the EU.

You can check them out here, but keep in mind that those are prices for Bucharest, which is among the most expensive cities in the country!

The fact that Romania has fully joined the Schengen area since early 2026 also matters a lot – seamless travel and trade are accelerating economic expansion, but also make things easier for people from richer EU countries to take advantage of geographical arbitrage to the max.

All of these combined mean that Romania will keep growing as a country. While this will make it less and less affordable in the long run, it offers a massive opportunity for those with some cash set aside.

Buying a house or apartment here – especially in one of the larger cities, in a good area – is probably the best option right now.

It’s also, most likely, a great idea for those who were already looking to buy a house to just do it. (I repeat – I am not giving any financial advice here, it’s your money and your decisions).

But based on everything that has been happening in the past few years, I don’t see prices going anywhere but up, overall, for the next 5-10 years. And they kept going up – as they did in the entire world – for a several years now.

What about renting?

This is a different thing. In line with what I wrote above, I believe that rental prices will keep going up in the next few years, making Romania less and less affordable for those who plan to rent.

When I was a university student (aeons ago, it’s true – in the early 2000s), I was renting a small studio in the heart of Bucharest for $120 per month. Four years later, I was paying 200 Euros/month for a studio in the same area.

Today, renting the same studio apartment would cost at least 400 Euros per month. And prices keep going up.

It does make sense: Back when I was a student, the minimum salary in Romania was €140 per month. Now, it is around €530 (and growing). As a result, property owners will ask for more money.

Therefore, if you are moving here and paying rent, expect it to keep crawling up. I doubt it will get as big as it is in Germany or the US, but it will keep going up for sure and it will eat from that monthly budget.

What about all the other costs?

Usually, the main expenses one has each month are rent (or mortgage) and food.

There are plenty of other things we spend money on – how much depends on your spending habits – but covering the basics, once rent is out of the way, Romania is truly affordable.

While prices have gone up a lot, you can still buy tomatoes for less than 1 Euro per kilo during the peak season, and most locally-grown foods are dirt-cheap (compared to Western Europe) during the season. Sure, the same tomatoes cost 10 Euros per kilo during the winter, but with a bit of planning and always buying in season, you will get far.

The same goes with restaurant prices. Road tolls, taxes, entertainment options, private health costs, all sorts of services and so on.

Everything remains cheaper in Romania than in other parts of the world. So if you were to move from the US, for example, and live the exact same life, you would spend A LOT less. The same goes for most EU countries out there.

The problem with moving to Romania

The biggest problem I see with moving to Romania – but it’s only for those who are not already EU citizens – is the fact that there’s no retirement visa option. Fortunately, EU citizens don’t have this problem as they can freely move within the union.

I have written more about getting a residence permit in Romania but also How to Get a Registration Certificate as an EU citizen, so you can read those more in-depth to see your options.

But if you want to retire here… it won’t be easy, no matter what, if you are a non-EU citizen. Read about the challenges (but also why it’s worth going through all this) in my article sharing the heartwarming story of Levi’s move from China to Timisoara.

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Wrapping up

You know now the honest, up-to-date reality from someone who has lived in Romania his entire life.

If you manage to solve the retirement problem (or if it doesn’t apply to you), then Romania is, with certainty, still an amazing and affordable place to live in.

If you manage to move here and buy a house or apartment – and ideally if you earn your income outside of the country (aka have a higher-than-average income), you are all set in my opinion.

I am curious to see what others think about this though – so please share your thoughts in the comments section below and let me know if you believe that Romania still is a good place to move to.

And if you still need a bit of convincing, you should read the previous article written by our reader, JC, explaining why you should make Romania your home. Or read what Angela (also a Romania Experience reader) thought about spending a summer in a Transylvanian village.

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