Short-term rental apartment in Constanța or Mamaia: how to value it after the 2026 season

The 2026 summer season is over, and for anyone looking to buy on the Romanian coast, this is the best time to run the numbers. Sellers now have figures for a whole year, not just photos from August, and you can compare income, costs and 2026 taxes with a cool head. This guide helps you value a short-term rental apartment (regim hotelier) in Constanța or Mamaia: what sellers are asking, how much a property takes in on average, which local taxes apply and how the result compares with a long-term let, with and without a mortgage.

What the 2026 season showed on the coast

This summer was not an easy one for the coast. In mid-July, operators quoted by Euronews Romania estimated more than 20% fewer tourists than the previous summer and occupancy of 60–70% in the peak window of 15 July–15 August. It was the first year in which prices did not rise in high season. Peak weekends nevertheless stayed strong: on 8 August, the coast reached 100% occupancy, with more than 200,000 tourists (Agerpres).

Supply kept growing. According to Radio Romania International, the number of classified accommodation units on the coast rose by almost 10% in 2026, to almost 5,400, including 1,835 classified holiday apartments with more than 9,400 bed places. In September, more than 80 hotels joined the “Litoralul pentru Toți” (“The Seaside for All”) programme, with rates up to 60% below the peak of the season. In Mamaia, a night in a three-star hotel without meals started at 64 lei per person (Știrile ProTV). For a short-term rental apartment, this means direct price competition in exactly the months when it is trying to extend the season.

Demand is still significant, though: Constanța county recorded 1.028 million arrivals in January–July 2026, second only to Bucharest (INS, via Agerpres). The full analysis of the summer is in our article on INS data and the coast.

What an apartment costs in Constanța in autumn 2026

The imobiliare.ro index shows that in September 2026, apartments in Constanța had an average asking price of €2,020 per square metre, 0.1% less than in August but 6.4% more than a year earlier. The gap between segments is wide: new-build apartments reached €2,257/m² (+13.2% in a year) and older ones €2,000/m² (+6.7%). VDI.ro data, calculated as the median of active listings, completes the picture by type of home.

Three caveats before you use these figures. They are asking prices, not transaction prices, so the room for negotiation has to be checked listing by listing. They are city-wide averages: a seafront or sea-view apartment can cost well above the average, so compare it with listings in the same area. And for new-build apartments, check whether the price includes VAT. The reduced 9% rate for homes applied for the last time, on a transitional basis, until 30 September 2026, and only to buyers who had paid an advance by 1 August 2025 (Law 161/2026). The standard 21% rate now applies.

Income: what the €8,980 yearly average means

The Crosspoint Research (Savills associate) report on Romania's 2025 short-term rental market is the most useful public benchmark for Constanța: €8,980 in average annual takings per property, about €1,500 in August and an average daily rate of €103.8 in August. Constanța also had the longest average stay in the country, at 6.5 days, and the authors note that longer stays offset lower occupancy in the off-season.

The average hides strong seasonality, however. August alone brings in almost a sixth of the year's takings, so one good month says little about the return. Two calculations that inflate the result:

• August income × 12: €1,500 × 12 = €18,000 a year, double the real average;
• the August rate × 365 nights × 70% occupancy: more than €26,000 a year, almost three times the average.

A city-wide average groups together very different apartments: some open all year, others only in summer, some with hundreds of reviews, others only just listed. A well-located, actively managed apartment can beat the average; one with weak photos or in an area with no off-season demand can fall well short of it. Demand between November and April is best seen in local data. In KeyBid Puls you can find prices in 750 m zones for Constanța and Mamaia, and the availability of competing listings in the colder months gives you a clue as to how easily the area fills up.

2026 costs: commissions, local taxes and income tax

Platform commission

Airbnb has moved to a single host-only fee of 15.5%. For hosts in Romania who are not registered for VAT, Airbnb charges 21% VAT on the fee, so the effective cost rises to about 18.8% of takings. Hosts in the European Economic Area and Switzerland who do not work with a channel manager have until 13 October 2026 to adjust their prices; without an adjustment, their net payout falls. On Booking.com, the commission is set in the contract as a percentage of the total reservation value, and the platform states that it does not charge commission on local taxes such as city tax.

Constanța's tourism promotion tax

Under Local Council Decision (HCL) No. 462/2025 on local taxes for 2026, Constanța applies a tourism development and promotion tax, which funds the Mamaia-Constanța destination management organisation. Two components matter for a short-term rental apartment:

• 1% of the accommodation price, excluding VAT, owed by the guest for stays anywhere in the municipality, including Mamaia. The operator, including an individual running a classified unit, calculates and withholds the tax, then pays it and files the return by the 10th of the following month.
• 500 lei a year for each rental apartment listed in the classification certificate, in Mamaia and Sat Vacanță (for homes in the same area, the fixed fee is 200 lei). The return and payment are due by 1 July; if the property is acquired after that date, you have 30 days.

Late payment is penalised at 1% a month, and fines for individuals, authorised self-employed persons (PFA), sole proprietorships (II) and family businesses (IF) range from 400 to 900 lei. A proposal to cut building tax by 50% for buildings used for tourism for no more than 180 days a year was not included in the decision.

Building tax

Taxes on homes rose in 2026 in many cities, with average increases estimated by the press at 70–80% and large local differences. Check the exact amount for the apartment you are considering with Constanța's local tax office (SPIT) or with the town hall the address falls under.

Income tax and the health contribution (CASS)

For one to seven rooms let in privately owned homes, net income is 70% of gross income, and the commission withheld by the platform is not part of gross income. The tax rate is 10%, so roughly 7% of the takings left after commission. The health contribution (CASS) is due if net income from all non-salary sources reaches 24,300 lei (six minimum wages) and amounts to 2,430 lei; the next thresholds are 48,600 and 97,200 lei. For a long-term let, net income is 80% of gross income, so the effective tax is 8%. The full calculation, with examples, is in our tax guide for short-term rentals.

Operating costs

Besides taxes, short-term renting carries costs that a long-term let passes on to the tenant: utilities, internet and building service charges, plus cleaning and laundry after every stay, consumables and faster wear and tear on the furniture. On the coast, humidity and salty air add the need for preventive maintenance. If you work with a property manager, the fee is usually 15–25% of takings. A good manager pays for themselves through the extra income they bring in with dynamic pricing, reviews and off-season occupancy, so ask for month-by-month projections and compare them with the benchmarks above.

Three scenarios for a two-room apartment (hypothetical example)

To see how the figures fit together, we built a hypothetical example for a two-room apartment bought at the Constanța median price. The scenarios are not a forecast for any particular property but a checking tool: replace the assumptions with your apartment's figures.

The conclusion of the example is uncomfortable but useful: at the Constanța average, short-term renting earns less than a long-term let once you have paid commissions, utilities and cleaning. Under our assumptions, the point at which short-term renting pulls ahead is about €10,600 in annual takings, roughly 18% above the average. What can push an apartment past that threshold: a good location (close to the beach, with a sea view, with parking), solid reviews, day-by-day pricing and longer off-season stays, which we covered in our guide to off-season offers.

The mixed option is also worth calculating: short-term renting in summer and a lease of a few months for the rest of the year. Lets of more than 30 days no longer count as short-term accommodation and are taxed as ordinary rent, and the contract must allow you to get the apartment back in time for the season.

Financing: what a mortgage changes

For a second home bought with a lei loan, the minimum down payment is 25%. Variable rates start from the IRCC reference index, which rose to 5.57% from 1 October 2026, its first increase after four consecutive declines. On 8 October, the National Bank of Romania (BNR) kept its monetary policy rate at 6.50%, and its next meeting is on 12 November. As a benchmark, in October ING was advertising a variable rate of 7.12% (IRCC + 1.55%) for customers who take out life insurance and buy a home with an energy class A or A+ certificate; without these, the rate rises by 0.3 and 0.4 percentage points respectively.

In our example, a loan of 75% of the price means €78,750, or about 420,600 lei. At a hypothetical rate of 7.5% a year over 30 years, the monthly repayment would be around 2,941 lei (about €551), or roughly €6,600 a year. Compared with the net results in the table:

• in the base scenario, you pay about €3,500 a year out of pocket (around €290 a month);
• in the optimistic scenario, about €2,150 a year (around €180 a month);
• with a long-term let, about €2,400 a year (around €200 a month).

At a rate one percentage point higher, the repayment rises to around €606 a month. At the start you need about €36,250 (the €26,250 down payment and the €10,000 for equipment and paperwork), and under the flat-rate system, mortgage interest is not deducted from taxable income. This does not make the investment a bad one: part of each repayment reduces the debt, and asking prices in Constanța have risen by 6.4% over the past year, with no guarantee that the pace will continue. It means the decision has to be made knowing that the return comes from capital growth and personal use, not from monthly cash flow. The full stress test and the documents the bank will ask for are in our financing and due diligence guide.

What to check now, before you sign

1. The real 2026 figures. Ask for the monthly payout reports from Airbnb or Booking.com, not a total quoted from memory, and compare them with the benchmarks above. Also ask during which periods the owner used the apartment.
2. Classification. Since 8 July 2026, applications have been filed online under Order 948/2026: individuals may have at most 7 rooms and 14 bed places, with the approval of the owners' association, the consent of directly affected neighbours where applicable, and a sworn statement. Do not assume the seller's certificate passes to you automatically; the steps are in our guide to Order 948.
3. Seismic risk. The law bans renting out space in buildings rated seismic risk class I, and Airbnb has started checking listings in such buildings. The details are in our article on seismic-risk buildings.
4. The owners' association. Ask the building administrator how the association views short-term renting, what rules the building has and how much the service charges were in the winter months.
5. Local taxes. Establish whether the address falls under Constanța or Năvodari and what your obligations are: the fixed Mamaia fee, the monthly returns for the 1% tax and building tax.
6. The condition of the apartment. Look for signs of damp, check the insulation, air conditioning and installations, the parking space and sources of noise in the area, such as clubs or building sites.
7. The price. Compare the seller's asking price with the imobiliare.ro and VDI.ro indices and with similar listings in the same area.

The complete list, from the search to the first guest, is in our short-term rental investor checklist.

How KeyBid helps with the valuation

The KeyBid ROI Calculator extension for Chrome and Firefox analyses listings on Storia, Imobiliare and OLX directly on the page and shows an estimated annual return with a colour-coded label, calculated from the listing's public data. Viewing the estimate costs nothing. For discussions with the bank, a partner or a property manager, you can generate a PDF report for 49.99 lei. The report is an investment analysis, not an ANEVAR valuation report: for a mortgage, the bank will require a valuation by an authorised valuer.

If you would rather not run the apartment yourself, KeyBid lists property managers and cleaning and maintenance companies. The details are on the for owners page.

Common mistakes

• Multiplying August income by 12, or the August rate by 365 nights.
• Comparing gross short-term takings with a long-term let without deducting commissions, utilities and cleaning.
• Forgetting the VAT on Airbnb's fee if you are not registered for VAT.
• Ignoring Constanța's 1% tax and the monthly returns it requires, or the fixed Mamaia fee.
• Buying a new-build apartment without checking whether the advertised price includes 21% VAT.
• Calculating the repayment only at the fixed rate of the first few years, without looking at what happens after the fixed period.
• Assuming the seller's classification certificate remains valid for you.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a short-term rental apartment earn in Constanța?

According to Crosspoint Research, in 2025 a short-term rental property in Constanța took in an average of €8,980 a year, of which about €1,500 in August. These are gross takings: after commissions, utilities, cleaning and taxes, the net result in our base example is around €3,080 a year.

Is short-term renting more profitable than a long-term let in Constanța?

Not automatically. In our example, a two-room apartment earns more net as a short-term rental only from about €10,600 in annual takings. Below that threshold, a long-term let wins, at a median rent of €520 a month.

What local taxes do I pay for a short-term rental apartment in Mamaia?

For 2026, Constanța charges 500 lei a year for each rental apartment in Mamaia and Sat Vacanță and the 1% tax on the accommodation price, withheld from guests and declared monthly, plus building tax. Mamaia Nord falls under Năvodari, where the rules should be checked with the town hall.

Can I use the KeyBid report as a valuation for the bank?

No. The KeyBid PDF report is an investment analysis that helps you decide. For a mortgage, the bank requires a valuation report prepared by an ANEVAR-authorised valuer.