The search for housing is changing, and while buying is slowing due to the VAT increase, interest in the purchase of holiday homes is increasing, with an advance of 141% compared to last year, according to an analysis by real estate platform Storia.
In the rental segment there is a 4% increase in the number of pages viewed compared to last year, in contrast to the purchase area, where interest remains present, but does not turn into transactions as quickly. Specifically, direct interactions were down 19% in April and views down 8%, meaning buyers are taking a closer look at deals, largely due to the economic climate.
Users are mainly interested in the maximum price, housing category or number of rooms and are increasingly looking for parking information directly in the ad description, while interest in “SUBWAY” drops significantly on both segments.
“We noticed that Storia users are more attentive to details and define their needs more clearly from the search stage. At the same time, the dynamics in the platform show a difference between intention and action. On the rental segment we see an active demand in April, with a 4% increase in the number of pages viewed compared to last year. On the other hand, in the purchase area, interest remains present, but does not turn into transactions as quickly: direct interactions decreased by 19% in April, and the views with 8%, a sign that some of the buyers are still in the analysis phase, also influenced by the economic context, including the increase in VAT. Overall, we see a market where users no longer react immediately, but take more time to compare options and come back to the decision, and this is directly reflected in the way they search and filter the offers”, said Monica Dudău, Head of Marketing Real Estate Europe, OLX Group (Storia and OLX Real Estate).
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the increasingly important “pet friendly” criterion for buyers
Romanians looking for a home to rent are increasingly specific in their needs, and the way they use search filters reflects these priorities. Storia’s data for April 2026 shows that the acceptance of pets or the availability of a parking space are aspects that matter more and more in the rental search process.
Thus, almost 30% of users using search by keywords in the description are interested in pet-friendly homes, this type of search is up +20% compared to the same month last year.
As for parking, it is mentioned by approximately 15.7% of users searching in the description, their number increasing by +64% compared to April 2025.
The most used filter by potential renters is “maximum price”, used by 51% of users, followed by “housing category” (48%) – the filter through which users select the type of property they want (apartments, houses, etc.) and “number of rooms” (47%).
Filters such as “minimum price” (19%), “minimum area” (9%) and “floor” (5%) also appear at a distance, but with significantly lower weights.
A less used filter for rentals is the minimum year of construction, used by only 3% of users in April 2026, compared to 10% for homes for sale.
What Romanians interested in purchasing look at
Storia data from April 2026 shows that, beyond budget and the number of rooms, buyers are increasingly paying attention to practical features such as a parking place or their own heating plant, but also to more niche options such as holiday homes.
The most used filter by potential buyers is “maximum price”, used by 44% of users, closely followed by “number of rooms” (43%) and “category of housing” (30%), which allows the selection of the desired property type: apartment, studio, house, etc. This confirms that the budget and the configuration of the home are the main benchmarks in the case of purchases as well. At a distance, but on the immediately following places, “minimum area” (18%), “minimum price” (15%) and “year of construction” (10%) appear.
There is also a growing interest in practical equipment. Thus, 6.3% of Storia users using keyword search in the description are looking for a parking space, this type of search is up +54% compared to the same month of the previous year.
In second place are the searches related to the own heating plant, mentioned by 5.6% of users, increasing by +73% compared to April 2025, a sign that energy independence, but also the control and predictability of heating costs matter more and more in the purchase decision.
Growing interest in holiday homes
Interest in holiday homes is increasing significantly, being searched by 4.8% of users using this type of filtering, up +141% from the previous year, Storia data shows. This means that more and more Romanians are considering the purchase of a vacation home or a second property.
Some of these searches also have an investment purpose, in the context of volatility in other types of investments, the authors of the study state.
