December 10, 2009
Global Property Guide: Bulgaria's Ranked Third in the World by Housing Prices Fall

According to the website GlobalPropertyGuide.com Bulgaria is ranked third in the world by falling of the housing prices for Q3'2009 with 28.66% down. Bulgaria is right after UAE with 48.05% and Latvia (Riga) with 59.70%. Data is inflation-adjusted.

December 3, 2009
Bulgaria Sees 2% Drop in Number of New Residential Buildings Y/Y

A total of 685 new residential buildings were completed in the third quarter of 2009 which is a 2% drop compared to the same period of 2008.

The decline compared to the second quarter of 2009 is 0,9%, according to preliminary data of the National Statistical Institute released Thursday.

The District of Varna saw the greatest number of newly completed residential buildings in July-September 2009 - 163. No new buildings were completed in the southwest District of Kyustendil.

November 30, 2009
Bulgaria's Luxury Properties Construction Unaffected by Crisis

The downturn in the real estate sector in Bulgaria caused by the global economic crisis has not affected the construction of luxury properties in the country.

This opinion has been expressed by entrepreneurs and experts who participated in the "High Class in Construction" exhibit which took place in Sofia over the weekend.

Experts believe that the economic crisis has led to a greater focus precisely on high-quality properties.

According to the Chief Architect of Sofia, Petar Dikov, Bulgaria has a very good potential for a dynamic market of luxury properties.

The participants in the expo believe that the crisis has hit mostly the low-quality construction projects in the country, and that most investors actually have made mistakes by seeking quick returns on property investments without accounting for good quality.

November 23, 2009
Bulgaria's Ruse to Boast Top Class Logistics Center

Bulgaria's Minister of Regional Development, Rosen Plevneliev, broke the ground of a modern logistics park in the Danube city of Ruse.

The ceremony was held Monday in the presence of the Ruse Mayor, Bozhidar Iotov and the investors from the Bulgarian Property Development company.

The logistic center will include three buildings in Ruse's industrial zone on 53 676 square meters. It will boast top of the line warehouses, offices and parkings for cars and trucks.

The Bulgarian Property Development Company has already invested EUR 2 M in the project and the total investment amount is estimated at EUR 12 M.

The project was designed by the UK Fletcher Architects and the Bulgarian Proconsult while the construction works will be conducted by Intis and MSKAD companies.

The park aims at improving the effectiveness of the local industry and attracting new business in the area.

Minister Plevneliev pointed out that the realization of such major investment in times of economic crisis is proof of the business potential of the Ruse Region.

November 23, 2009
Bulgaria Residential Building Permits down 35% in 2009 3rd Quarter

The building permits issued by local administrations in Bulgaria during the third quarter of 2009 are down 35% year/year while the residential units inside those buildings are down 60%.

The data was released Monday by the National Statistics Institute (NSI). It further shows the administrative buildings are down 33,3%, while other buildings are reduced by 11,5%.

During the third quarter, local administrations have issued building permits for 1 783 buildings with 5 209 residential units inside them, 84 administrative buildings, and 1 289 other buildings.

Compared to the second quarter, the residential building permits are down 2,7%, but the units inside them are up 15,6%. The number of administrative buildings during the third quarter is up by 6,3% compared to the second one, while other buildings are up 11,1%.

October 13, 2009
Austria's Immoeast Sells Package in Bulgarian Developer

Austrian Immoeast, one of the largest real estate investment funds in Central and Eastern Europe, has sold its share in the Bulgarian developer Prime Property BG REIT.

Initial reports said the Austrian company, which was the largest shareholder in Prime Property BG (42%), has sold about 10 million company shares (2%), but according to latest information the whole package has been sold.

Buyers are Delta Food Ltd., owned by Kaliman, Borat Harom and Global Tours company, associated with another key shareholder in Prime Property - biscuit manufacturer Pobeda, which owns about 17% of the company shares.

Delta Food and Global Tours now own over 30% and 10% in Prime Property BG respectively.

The price of the deal was not disclosed.

Other major shareholders in Prime Property BG are Doverie pension funds, which hold about 21% stake.

September 23, 2009
UK Real Estate Firm: 5 Spots for Working Expats in Bulgaria's Sofia

The Sofia-based UK property developer Cleves has identified 5 spots where large numbers of expats are employed in the Bulgarian capital.

This has been announced by one of the partners at Cleves, Vesey Crichton, in an interview for Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency).

According to Crichton, about 10 000 expats work in Sofia, and the five areas they are concentrated are the downtown, the Tsarigradsko Shose Blvd, the Iztok Quarter, the Sofia Business Park in the Mladost 4 Quarter, and the Manastirski Livadi ("Monastery Lawns") Quarter.

Having identified those five areas, Cleves Ltd, which specializes in rental services in the Bulgarian capital, has been developing nine residential projects totaling 150 apartments in their proximity.

The total investments of Cleves in Sofia so far amount to about EUR 35 M. In Crichton's words, the rental services market in the Bulgarian has not been affected significantly by the economic crisis. He expects that the rental and residential properties markets are going to pick up again as the Bulgarian economy starts to recover in 2010.

September 17, 2009
Bulgaria Real Estate Market Registers August Revival

Bulgaria's property market has registered an August increase of 2% to 3%, the Chair of the National Real Estate Association, Lachezar Iskrov reported.

Iskrov spoke Thursday in a special interview for Darik radio.

According to the Chair, property prices have ceased to go down, but will maintain their current level for quite a while and the real estate values would reach their pre-crisis numbers in five to six years from now.

Currently the average price for residential properties in the capital Sofia is between EUR 750 and 950 per square meter. In the Black Sea cities of Varna and Burgas the values are 5% to 10% lower while the prices are the lowest in Bulgaria's second largest city, Plovdiv - between EUR 550 and 750 per square meter.

Iskrov also pointed out that the minimal reduction of mortgage interest rates was not going to contribute to a further market revival since the banks still grant loans under conditions that are too restrictive.

The National Real Estate Association Chair said that he expects a price reduction for lands used for construction since they have been overpriced in last years, but the demand has been almost non-existent lately.

August 26, 2009
Bulgaria Capital Hits Record Land Plot Price of EUR 10 333/m2

A piece of land plot in the Bulgarian capital Sofia has been sold for the record price of EUR 10 333 per square meter.

The triangle shaped land plot with area of 315 square meters in downtown Sofia hit the price of EUR 3 255 000, the Trud Daily reported.

This is a new record for a price of building ground in the capital Sofia, the newspaper announced. Until now a land plot at the downtown Sofia's Todor Alexandrov Blvd has held the first place with EUR 8 355 per square meter.

The third place in the chart is for a land plot at the Mariya Luiza Blvd, again in downtown Sofia, sold for EUR 6 356 per square meter.

The newspaper commented that such real estate deals are rear even in cities like London and Paris.

July 22, 2009
Experts Recommend Buy to Let for Properties in Bulgaria

The prices of the residential properties in Bulgaria are going down faster than the rents, so experts recommend buy to let.

This is what the credit institution, Creditex, reported based on information provided by real estate agents, the Pari Daily announced.

According to Creditex experts, the co-relation between both prices is important reference point for the Bulgarian real estates market. The average current residential properties profitability is 4,5% in the first half of 2009, while in the last six months of 2008 it was 4,1%.

The redeemability of such investment is measure through the so called "gross rental multiplier". It shows the number of month rents, by which the investment will be returned. The lower the index is, the better the redeemability is, and the faster the investment will be returned.

The index for the first six months of 2009 is 209,4 months - a decrease from 237,3 months in the second half of 2008.

The reasons for the increasing redeemability of residential properties are the lack of adequate financing from the financial institutions, which makes the prices go down, and the rise of the interest towards renting apartments, instead of buying them.

The increase of the current residential properties profitability since the beginning of 2009 shows that the most critical moment of the real estate crisis is may be passing, and the first signs of realties market recovery and stabilization are appearing, experts form Creditex commented.

Creditex is non-bank, financial institution, specialized in business mortgage crediting, which has been on the market five year now. It is part of the registered in Holland, TBI Financial Services B.V

June 23, 2009
Bulgaria Ranked 4th Top Real Estate Investment Destination Globally

Bulgaria has been ranked as the fourth top destination for real estate investments globally in a survey of the properties website Simplyzigzag.de.

The survey has researched the opinion of foreign investors about the most appropriate country for purchasing real estate property at the present moment, the Pari Daily has reported.

The ranking is topped by Iraq with 44,6% of the respondents; Croatia is second with 17,9%, followed by Costa Rica with 16,1%.

Bulgaria is ranked fourth with 12,5%. It is followed by Romania with 8,9%.

June 2, 2009
Bulgaria 9th in Real Estate Prices - Knight Frank Report

Bulgaria property prices rose by 3,3% for 2009's first quarter year-on-year, putting the country in 9th position in the latest Knight Frank on world property prices.

The last week issued report of the consulting company showed that Bulgaria had lost its last year's second place.

The report also showed most markets to be still in a general downturn over the global financial crisis.

Some countries bucked the trend with increases in year-on-year property prices, including Bulgaria.

Knight Frank said that there was some evidence of buyers now snapping up bargains but that others were holding back hoping prices may fall lower.

The global property index showed Israel as the top performer with growth of 10,9% over the 12 month period to the end of March 2009. Israel is followed by the Czech Republic with an increase of 9,9%.

The biggest fall during the first quarter of 2009 was Dubai, which showed a huge decrease in property values by 40%.