The construction financing model in Moldova makes housing at least 20% more expensive than in Romania and EU countries - Veaceslav Ionita
According to the economic expert at IDIS Viitorul, the main problem lies in the imbalance in the lending structure: with a total volume of bank loans for real estate of 29.4 billion lei in 2025, only 3.3 billion lei went directly to construction companies, while 26.1 billion lei went to mortgage loans to the population. As a result, almost all financing for the sector goes to developers indirectly, through home buyers. The expert noted that in 2005, about 70% of financing went to construction companies and only 30% to the population, while today the situation is reversed: the share of direct financing for developers has fallen to 10%. This forces developers to attract private investors who buy apartments at early stages of construction and resell them at significantly higher prices. According to Veaceslav Ionita's estimates, more than 20% of the final cost of housing is formed precisely because of the lack of direct bank financing for projects. According to him, additional pressure on the market was exerted by regulatory changes in 2022–2023, including the introduction of a levy of 0.5% of the cost of construction work. For projects worth €100 million, this levy amounts to around €500,000. As a result, the share of housing construction in GDP fell from 2.3% in 2021 to 1.6% in 2025, even though Moldova builds half as much housing as Romania and almost four times less than the EU average. The expert believes that it is necessary to urgently change the financing model of the sector so that the market becomes more competitive, unnecessary costs are eliminated, and housing becomes affordable for citizens. According to him, banks are rapidly expanding their mortgage loan portfolios today, but it is time to launch corporate financing for large residential projects. In his opinion, banks could cover 50-70% of investments in residential projects, as is the case in the EU, which would reduce construction costs and make housing more affordable for the population. // 13.02.2026 – InfoMarket.
