The Nordis Law in Romania: How the New Reform Protects Investors' Money

2026 is not a simple year for the Israeli investor: the cost of living continues to press, apartment prices in Israel have not fallen, and a purchase tax of 8% on a second apartment, under a temporary provision extended to the end of 2026, makes a local investment an especially expensive transaction. It is no wonder that more investors are looking across the border.

But the phrase “real estate abroad” has an unpleasant echo for many Israelis, after years of headlines about projects that stopped midway and about money that was swallowed up and never returned. Precisely at this point Romania emerges as a surprising story: not only thanks to a higher yield, but thanks to a new law that changes the allocation of risk.

1What is the Nordis Law and what does it provide?

In November 2025 the Romanian Parliament unanimously approved Law 207/2025, known as the “Nordis Law”, after the construction company that sold thousands of off-plan apartments, collected deposits of sometimes more than 50% of the consideration and did not complete the projects. Among the victims were also Israelis. The law entered into force on 11 December 2025 and is the most significant reform in Romanian real estate law in recent years.

It is important to clarify its scope: the law applies to the sale of off-plan apartments by developers, not to second-hand transactions between a private seller and a buyer. These are the four central principles:

1. The deposit is capped at 5% of the property value only.
2. The registration agreement is limited to 60 days. At the end of the period a binding preliminary contract must be signed, and if the developer fails to do so, it returns the full amount within 30 days.
3. Buyers' funds are locked in a bank account dedicated exclusively to the project, and are released only according to actual construction progress: up to 25% upon completion of the structure, up to 20% upon completion of the systems, and the balance toward completion. Use of the funds for another purpose is exposed to fines of up to 1% of the developer's turnover.
4. An obligation to register in the land registry already at the preliminary contract stage. Each unit is registered separately and a caveat is entered in favour of the buyer, which prevents the phenomenon in which the same property is sold to several buyers. What it looks like when there is no such registration can be seen in the analysis “the case of the apartment sold twice” on the firm's website.

2How does the law screen out speculative developers?

In the past, a small developer could collect high deposits and use the money to finance other projects. The customer, without knowing it, became its main financier and bore all the risk. The Nordis Law closes that tap: when a developer cannot lean on customers' money as a main source of financing, it must bring its own capital.

According to analyses published in Romania Insider, the banking system in any case requires developers to have equity of about 30% to 40% as a condition for financing. The result: those who remain on the field are mainly players with real capital and proven experience.

3Is the yield in Romania still high after the law?

According to data from Imobiliare.ro and Global Property Guide, apartment prices in Bucharest rose by about 15% to 17% during 2025, and according to the article part of this reflects the cost of the new regulatory security. Nevertheless, the overall picture is still favourable for the Israeli investor.

According to an Investropa report from January 2026, price forecasts in Bucharest point to cumulative appreciation of 25% to 40% over five years. A forecast is not a promise, and the original article presents it as published data and not as a guarantee.

When the yield gaps are combined with the safety net of the Nordis Law, a formula is created that did not exist before: the yield of an emerging market with consumer protection approaching a Western European standard.

4What does the Nordis Law not solve, and what do you do before signing?

The Nordis Law protects against one type of risk: the developer “disappearing” with the money. It does not check for you the historical registration, building permits, the structure of shared land or the wording of the contract. All of these still need to be checked, with independent legal accompaniment that works in Romanian and under Romanian law, before signing the preliminary agreement and not after. An organized list of these checks appears in the checklist “6 checks before signing on a property in Romania” on the firm's website.

The Nordis Law is not a technical reform but a transition from a market that relied on trust alone to a regulated and supervised market. For the Israeli investor who has been burned in the past by empty promises, this is exactly what he or she was looking for: a place where the money is protected, and the yield is real.

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The information in this guide is general in nature and does not constitute legal or tax advice on any specific transaction. Every transaction is assessed on its own facts.