Latest Property and Economy news from Bulgaria. News for Visitors and Investors

12.03.2008 LUXURY RENTALS IN PLOVDIV FOR PRICE OF 350 EURO MONTHLY

Оn the averages 350 euro monthly is the rents for luxury properties( houses , flats, apartments) with parking spot or garage in Plovdiv, in accordance with an analysis of rental trends at the turn of the year.
At the most the people are looking for 2 room apartments in Plovdiv’s downtown and in Kurshiaka neighbourhood. 3-room flats do not enjoy high demand and their provide is restricted anyway, director Daniela Dimitrova tell in a newscast. A new building flat or a plentifuly equipped one can let out at 250-550 euro every month and old brick or pre-fab flat, as well as apartments that have not been re- restored , rent out at 200-250 euro, she told.
There is a poor demand for unfurnished units on Plovdiv market, according to the Europolis report. Middle and low- property units are not popular either, renting at an average of 175 euro monthly and lodgers insist on having at least fundamental kitchen equipment.
Europolis has chosen Plovdiv – the 2th biggest city in Bulgaria, for the place of its first office in our country. This company is founded in 1995 in Greece and is manages about 35 office buildings, commerce centers in Hungary, Poland, Romania, Russia, Austria.
Apart from dealing in brokerage and real estate management, Europolis project for Bulgarian market embrace 5 million lv. investment in land in the town of Rousse and the possible growth of a holiday plan in town of Karlovo.

11.03.2008 Deadline for seaside construction checks extended

Bulgaria's Directorate for National Construction Supervision (DNCS) said it protracted the period during which it would check for illegal building on the Black Sea coast to March 24. Originally, the deadline was March 7.
DNCS issued another four orders for the demolition of 24 illegally built units in Zlatni pyassutsi (Golden Sands) summer resort, the establishment said on its website on March 10. It is now in the middle of choosing the executor of the actual demolition.
The orders were issued for: Snack house-Slaveev rai (Nightingale’s heaven) – situated in the street across Afrodita and Tintyava hotels; six booths, constructed in the street behind Perunika (Iris) hotel; nine booths, located in square number 50 of the Golden Sands zoning plan; another eight booths, situated in the street near Bonkers restaurant-bowling.

10.03.2008 SEVEN THOUSAND COMPANIES ARE READY TO JOIN IN BULGARIAN BUILDING WEEK WHERE WILL BE SHOW THE LATEST TECHOLOGIES AND PRODUCTS

The 8th publication of Bulgaria Building Week building fair will take join in Inter Expo Centre in Sofia from 11 of March until 15 ofMarch .
This year will feature the highest number of participator ever, 700, or 1/4 more than in 2007 year.
The Bavarian Ministry of Infrastructure, Economy, Technology and Transport and Bayern International traditionally organise the junction representation of building companies from the German country Bavaria. Makers, distributors and retail dealers of building materials and technologies from Turkey,Bulgaria, Germany, UK,Italy, Austria,Finland, Holland, Spain and the USA, out of others, will take join in the fair.
Visitors at the Bulgaria Building Week will have the possibility to see the latest produce and technologies in more than 30 differing industry parts.
Fair participator will showcase energy-saving plan decisions for housing, vacation and industrial growths, insulation technologies for old properties, building technologies for particular intention progress – administrative real estates, hospitals, gas stations, malls , tunnels or airports. There will be demonstrations of varied building machinery and equipment, also.

07.03.2008 Banks tighten purse strings for holiday property investors

Having already cut down on loans for littoral holiday developments, Bulgaria's risk-averse banks are now doing the same investors trying to raise funding for ski resort projects, Dnevnik daily reported on March 7.
One of the reasons is the sharp decline in the uptake of resort holiday homes over the last 7-8 months, caused to some extend by the pullback of British home buyers. Money institutions have been shying away from ski resort developments in the past several months, as quoted by the paper. Krasimir Dimitrov from real estate developer Source concurred, saying that the banks were being too cautious.
According to Tihomir Toshev from a company for real estate, it would be an overstating to say that loan-financing has completely dried up when lenders are simply being more cautious and risk aware.
In the Black Sea resorts, the exodus of British buyers was partially offset by demand from Russians, Ukrainians and buyers from Scandinavia but the deals in the ski resorts have plummeted tenfold, said Stoyanov.

06.03.2008 Sofia’s suburban areas to grow into logistics parks

Current supply of logistic space in Sofia still lags behind demand and rentals, which nowadays come to as much as 5-6 euro a sq m. The price is higher than in most countries from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region and rivaling prices in the United States and Western Europe. That said Andriana Petkova, managing partner in ProCon International Property Consultants, at a discussion on trends and new ideas in property investment, held on March 5.
Available infrastructure and piece acquisition prices were the biggest issues that had to be overcome by investors in logistics segment. Such developments usually spread on large areas of at least 200 000 to 300 000 sq m, which means that piece consolidation comes as a crucial item on the agenda.
If the average land price after consolidation surpass 30-40 euro a sq m, the contemplated industrial development is no longer acceptable in terms of simple cost-benefit analysis. This is why a lot of contractor restructure their projects into retail schemes, which generally rent at higher levels and poured resources could pay off in shorter time, Petkova said.

05.03.2008 Housing market demand still outstrips supply

Demand continued to outstrip provide on the Bulgarian housing market last year, fuelling a 30-per cent increase in residential prices, local property agency said in its 2007 market overview.
Central areas of large regional cities were suffering the greatest under-supply, sending buyers in search of options in the suburbs.
The demand/supply gap has also been identified in the market research of other major real estate brokers, Dnevnik daily reported on March 5.
Real estate agency said that last year saw a significant pick-up in demand for homes in the vicinity of major lifestyle, office or transportation hubs like metro stations and business parks in Sofia and the shopping districts in Varna.
The agency has foresee a 10-15 per cent increase in housing prices in the big regional cities in 2008 while demand for suburban housing will stay buoyant.

04.03.2008 Demand for apartments shifts to outskirts

Prices run high by 54 per cent and 39 per cent in Sofia and Varna respectively. Rousse saw a 31-per cent increase in residential property prices in 2007.Demand for residential properties in the outskirts of big cities picked up in 2007.
Increased demand may be attributed to the small number of real estates for sale and the expensive prices in downtown areas as well as to the building of gated complexes that raises the supply of residential real estates in suburbs, Pari daily reported on March 4.
Demand for residential real estates exceeded supply in 2007, according to Dobromir Ganev, manager of Foros. Buyers are genuinely interested in old residential real estates in downtown areas of cities but due to the poor supply are opting for real estates in the outskirts.
In Sofia demand is picking up in southeastern residential area, such as Mladost. The area is close to Business Park Sofia, which is another priority.
In Bourgas there is strong demand for residential real estates in the Meden Rudnik and Sarafovo districts.

01.03.2008 WWF Bulgaria warns of ongoing construction in Rila

The local branch of World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said in the declaration that building work was carried out in the national park and the Rila buffer zone, both of which are suggested to become part of a protected tract under the Natura 2000 environmental network.
The building was part of the planned ski zone Panichishte-Ezerata-Kaboul, which was yet to secure a construction permit, WWF Bulgaria announced.
More than 70 000 people had signed an Internet petition against the illegal building in Rila. Its authors plan to forward the signatures to the commission on petitions at the European Parliament, Bulgaria’s Environment and Water Affairs Minister Djevdet Chakurov, Parliament’s Commission on Environment and Waters, investor Rila Sport and Sapareva Banya municipality, which is answerable for the conservation of the Rila national park.

29.02.2008 Three new residential districts to be developed in Bourgas

Bourgas city hall plans to build three new residential regions in the suburbs, it emerged after mayor Dimitur Nikolov and his deputy in charge of building, Kostadin Markov, met Bulgaria Building and Construction Chamber's members and members of the Chamber of Engineers in Investment Projects, Dnevnik daily announced on February 28.
Kiosheto neighbourhood, the districts between Sarafovo and Bourgas and Kraimorie neighbourhood will be developed as residential areas. The buildings planned for building are two- and three-storeys, but also skyscrapers.
The required infrastructure for the future residential boroughs will be built up with a concession agreement or public-private partnership. The city hall plans to call the tenders in March.
Bourgas mayor and the Construction Chamber chair person Dimitur Yanakiev signed a co-operation memorandum.

28.02.2008 Mortgages finance more than half of property purchases

More than half of Bulgarians seeking to buy real estate will use mortgage loans to finance the purchase, a survey commissioned by Raiffeisenbank and carried out by GfK Bulgaria showed, as quoted by Bulgaria news agency (BTA).
The survey, carried out between January 7 and 15, covered individuals aged between 26 and 55 in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Bourgas, Rousse, Pleven and Stara Zagora.
Mortgage loans are thus the most popular means of financing, with only 17 per cent planning to pay with their own money, and eight per cent would sign hire-purchase agreements.
About 5.4 per cent of respondents said that they have used a loan in the last five years and 10.2 per cent said they planned to use one in the next two years.
Bulgarians prefer to own their home, the survey shows. Until lately, living in rented real estate was a viable alternative for young people early in their careers, but acquiring one's own real estate has become a aim for many Bulgarians lately, GfK Bulgaria said. Increasingly easier access to bank funding in recent years has given a new impetus to the traditional consumer preference to own a home, according to its analysts.

Real Estate News