Bulgaria property news
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Moderate Price Growth |
| 04/03/2008 |
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Home Move UK forecasts moderate price growth in Bulgaria in 2008
Bulgaria's property market has been on the rise over the last few years, with real estate prices rising by 30.6 per cent in 2007, but their growth is expected to continue at a more moderate pace this year, home and property portal homemove.co.uk said on March 3.
The region has a significant potential, particularly in commercial and industrial areas sector, while the capital Sofia was rapidly growing and offered favourable investment opportunities.
Many people were eyeing Bulgaria for vacation investments due to its natural landscape, hiking and bike treks, the coastline along the Black Sea, the beaches, historical attractions, temperate climate and skiing opportunities.
In its guide to buying property in Bulgaria, the portal warned about the fact that buyers paid the bulk of transaction costs, which can reach 25 per cent of the total purchase price, and sometimes even more.
Properties in rural areas offered little rental income, if any, and were better investments for individuals who seek a retirement house. Typically, these properties sell at tempting prices, it said.
Other shrewd investments could be struck in mineral spa regions or in some of the historic cities, like Veliko Turnovo. Currently, non-residents cannot buy land in Bulgaria, but they will be allowed to do so, as well as inherit it, starting from 2014.
If foreigners wish to purchase land before 2014, they can do so by setting up a Bulgarian limited company, which takes between one to six weeks and can be done by an independent lawyer. It is also important that they hire a qualified accountant to oversee company affairs, Home Move – UK advised.
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Inversion Inmobiliaria |
| 07/02/2008 |
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¿Qué depara 2008 a la inversión inmobiliaria?
31 enero 2008
El mercado inmobiliario internacional sufrió en 2007 uno de los hechos más notorios de la última década dejando secuelas de diferente naturaleza en este año 2008 que los inversores afrontan: La crisis de las hipotecas o el "credit crunch". ¿Cómo sacar ventaja de ello en 2008? ¿En qué mercados participar?
Los mercados españoles y británicos
La crisis de las hipotecas se ha hecho sentir en el Reino Unido y España. ¿Por qué? Por que los mercados inmobiliarios de estos países se han expandido rápidamente a costa de un fuerte endeudamiento crediticio que no se ha ido frenando.
Por ello, los especuladores que quieran comprar propiedades con descuentos en España deberían esperar hasta el último trimestre de 2008 o primer trimestre de 2009. No creemos que el sector español de residencias veraniegas volverá a estar en el mercado como inversiones en si mismas, sino simplemente como clásicas viviendas de ensueño.
Buy to Let
Del mismo modo, en el mercado británico de "comprar para alquilar" (buy to let), los propietarios tendrán problemas para conseguir fondos con los que invertir en 2008 y, de hecho, no tendría mucho sentido invertir en alguno de los mercados de Europa Occidental, incluso si se encontraran propiedades con descuentos, ya que pensamos que a los citados mercados (sobre todo España) les costará entre 2 y 3 años recuperarse.
El "descanso" del mercado polaco
Contrario a lo que sucede en los mercados inmobiliarios de Europa occidental, durante 2008 los mercados de Europa Central y del Este experimentarán un magnífico crecimiento de precios con la excepción de Polonia, que en los últimos dos años ha crecido sobremanera y ahora necesita un descanso.
Para ser más precisos, ese llamado descanso del mercado polaco se puede traducir perfectamente en un crecimiento anual del 10%, lo cual contrasta con nuestras previsiones de descenso de precios en el Reino Unido y España, los cuales fluctuarán entre un 2% y un 5%.
Por otra parte, esperemos ver un fuerte crecimiento en Rumanía y Bulgaria.
Si Serbia resuelve sus diferencias con Kosovo tendrá un acercamiento político a la UE por lo que durante 2008 la economía de la región disfrutaría de un magnífico crecimiento económico que probablemente afectará al mercado inmobiliario.
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Bulgaria Regional Development Minister Upbeat on Motorways |
| 08/01/2008 |
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Bulgaria's regional development minister Assen Gagauzov was upbeat about work on planned motorways beginning before the end of the year.
Assen Gagauzov said on Tuesday he was confident construction work on all of Bulgaria's planned motorways would begin before the end of the year.
The only exception is the Cherno More motorway, which is planned to link the country's two major ports on the Black Sea - Varna and Burgas.
The ministry will call a tender for the construction of the Orizovo - Harmanli stretch of the Maritza motorway in southern Bulgaria before the end of the week, Gagauzov said.
A similar tender for the Struma motorway will also be called by the end of the month, he added.
The ministry's initial plans were to call the two tenders before the end of the year, having secured EUR 791,7 M in EU funding for road infrastructure projects in November.
Maritza will link Plovdiv to the Turkish border at Kapitan Andreevo, while Struma and Lyulin motorways, when completed, will link capital Sofia to the Greek border at Kulata. |
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New Mall in Varna |
| 12/12/2007 |
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GRAND MALL VARNA GRANTED CONSTRUCTION PERMIT
15:50 Wed 12 Dec 2007 - Elitsa Savova
Orchid Developments Group Limited investment fund announced it had been granted a construction permit for the Grand Mall Varna project.
The fund had already provided the funding for the project, investor.bg said.
Digging had begun and was to be completed by late February 2008. Construction was expected to begin in Q3 of 2008 and to last nearly 24 months.
Orchid had negotiated loans, worth 107 million euro, with OTP Bank Nyrt and MKB Bank and its Bulgarian subdivisions DSK and Unionbank. The loans would be paid off in 20 years.
Grand Mall Varna was part of Orchid MultiUse Complex, which envisioned the construction of 80 000 sq m of retail and entertainment areas, 51 000 sq m of business areas and 1650 parking places, investor.bg said.
In mid-September, Orchid announced it had reached an agreement with French retailer Carrefour to become key tenant of the mall. Currently, nearly 34 per cent of the mall’s area had been rented out or lending negotiations for it were in process.
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GREEK-BULGARIAN COMPANY TO BUILD HOLIDAY COMPLEX NEAR BLAGOEVGRAD |
| 03/11/2007 |
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Greek-Bulgarian company FIA Bulgaria will construct a holiday complex in Hadjidimovo municipality, near Blagoevgrad.
The complex will have a footprint of 56 000 sq m and will consist of hotels and villas. It will also include a medical centre, parks, parking places and a church.
FIA Bulgaria would invest 15 million leva in the project, Standard daily reported. The construction was to begin by the end of 2008.
This would be the biggest investment in the region.
The complex construction would open 200 work places.
Hadjidimovo municipality said that investors’ interest in the municipality increased after the opening of Ilinden-Exohi border checkpoint in late 2005. |
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Marina D'or to Build Holiday Villages. |
| 27/10/2007 |
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SPANISH COMPANY WILL BUILD TWO HOLIDAY VILLAGES IN BULGARIA
20:02 Wed 24 Oct 2007
Spanish investment and tourist service group Marina d’Or are planning to build two holiday villages in Bulgaria, the company said in a statement recently on October 24.
One of the villages would be on the Black Sea coast near Varna, and the other at the resort of Ribaritsa in the Stara Planina Mountain (the Balkan Range).
The Spanish company have bought a land plot from Varna-based furniture maker Yavor, whose assets had been on sale since early 2007 when it ceased operation. The plot was 2.25 hectares and cost 12 million euro to the developers. The Bulgarian office of Marina d’Or promised to provide more information on its seaside project in November.
The second project would lead to the construction of a number of villas and blocks of flats in the village of Ribaritsa. Marina d’Or bought 4.7 hectares for the purpose, on which it would construct 700 villas and apartments. The holiday village is to have a swimming pool, a fitness and spa centre and other facilities. It would be built in three stages with first one planned to be completed in May 2009.
Established in 1983, Marina d’Or arrived in Bulgaria last year when it was first seen at the 30th edition of the Tourism and Leisure Fair in Varna. Since then, the company had opened two offices – in the capital Sofia and in the second largest Bulgarian city Plovdiv. In the Balkans, it is also represented in Turkey and Romania.
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CONSTRUCTION SEASON IN BULGARIA’S SUNNY BEACH BEGINS |
| 21/10/2007 |
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New construction season in the coastal resort of Sunny Beach began on October 15 2007.
Only two or three hotels will be constructed in the eastern part of the resort, while in the western part, nearly 20 new buildings will be erected.
Elena Ivanova, representative of the union of owners, said that the next municipal council of Nessebar would have to enforce the order from the current mayor for construction to be halted on May 1 2008.
The union of the owners said that if construction would not stop on May 1, the tourist season would be delayed.
Ivanova said that in 2007, the first charter flights arrived a month after the official opening of the season, making the summer season shorter for tour-operators and hotel owners.
If the construction season would continue to start before October 15 and end after May 1, the summer season would continue to become shorter, which would lead to loses in the tourism sector, she said.
An increasing number of tourists complained of the noise and dirt in the resort, caused by the construction sites. |
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New Mall in Varna |
| 18/10/2007 |
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SCOTTISH COMPANY BUYS MALL IN BULGARIA'S COASTAL VARNA
Scottish company Miller Developments purchased Mall Varna for 120 million euro, consultancy company Forton International reported.
The sales negotiations lasted more than a year and involved consultants from Forton and Cushman&Wakefield.
The construction of the mall itself was launched a bit earlier by the investor Interservice Uzunovi.
Gross built-up area of Mall Varna was 70 000 sq m. Nearly half of the mall’s area, 32 000 sq m would be offered for rent. The mall should be opened within half a year.
Pavlina Nikova, Forton manager for the project, said that there were already tenants for 26 000 sq m of the area to be rented.
The mall would have a cinema, supermarket, bowling, bookstore and 10 restaurants, she said.
Miller Group is the biggest private property construction holding in the UK.
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Company invests in Bulgaria |
| 18/10/2007 |
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ISRAELIS TO BUY LAND IN BULGARIA FOR 37 MILLION EURO
Israeli construction and investment company BSR Europe has reached an agreement for the purchase of close to 80 000 sq m of land in Bulgaria for 37 million euro, the company announced.
BSR Europe has partnered for the deal with a European investment fund for real estate. The company refused to name the fund or the exact location of the land, saying these details would be announced separately.
On the land a complex with housing, offices and retail areas with a total floor space of 230 000 sq m would be constructed, the company said.
Israeli publication Globes said BSR Europe would own 42.5 per cent of the project, which according to preliminary calculations would be worth 200 million euro.
BSR Europe had additionally reached an agreement for the purchase of 350 000 sq m of land in Romanian Brashov at a value of 5.1 million euro. Housing complexes with a floor space of 50 000 sq m could be build on the land. Total value of this project is estimated at 40 million euro.
BSR Europe is the fourth Israeli company to buy land in Brashov in the past few months, Globes said.
The company specialized in housing complexes, offices and retail centres and has invested in Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Georgia and Spain.
The company intended to grow its portfolio from 1.3 to 2 billion euro over the next few years.
In Bulgaria the company has finished an eight floor office building along boulevard Totleben with 4 300 sq m floor space.
In Lagera neighbourhood it has been building a housing complex under the name Lagerfield, which contains 630 apartments distributed over 12 buildings. The project would be ready in 2010.
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CLOSED TYPE COMPLEXES GO INTO THE FAD |
| 15/10/2007 |
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16:52 Fri 12 Oct 2007
The real estate market is growingly orienting toward building the so-called “closed type” complexes, namely such offering many amenities in one place.
The trend is pervasive and is in place at the seaside, mountains and Sofia alike, Ivan Goranov, the co-manager of Home4You consultancy, said in an interview on October 12 with Focus news agency.
Goranov cited the complexes in Bankia and Bistritsa as examples and said the complexes' fad will be gaining pace in the years to come.
“This is the future – people are on the lookout for many amenities at a single spot,” Goranov was quoted by Focus as saying. “The closed-type complex offers precisely this. In such complexes people can enjoy a well-developed infrastructure and a host of services such as fitness, spa centres, tennis courts and restaurants. This precisely prompts people to prefer such a complex to building a home elsewhere. Besides, security levels in such complexes is better.”
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