Property news « BulgariaBoom.com

June 25, 2009

Crisis Hits Bulgaria Real Estate Market

According to Property Wire, the crisis has hit hard the Bulgarian real estate market:

The global economic downturn and poor management of investments have undermined the Bulgarian real estate market in the first half of 2009 with the office segment being the most severely hit, according to a new survey.

The commercial sector has been badly affected by ample supply and flagging demand, says the survey by Foros real estate agency.

Around 20 to 30% of offices across the country are empty. Rental and sale prices have decreased by 12.27% and 7.26% respectively since January.

The residential property market is also suffering. Jones Lang LaSalle has estimated the decline at 12% in Sofia in the last year while real estate agency Address puts it at 16 to 38% in the last six months alone.

Analysts from Foros are predicting sporadic investment activity in the second half of the year. Development projects will be delayed and a recovery is not expected until the economy improves.

However, some analysts see the green shoots of recovery in consumers’ revived interest and restored confidence, as well as in decelerated price downtrends.

Although there is dismay among environmentalists that what they regard as development that impact on areas of importance are still being given planning permission.

They are campaigning against a €2.2 million residential property development near the town of Kavarna in north east Bulgaria. They claim that the July Morning holiday village being developed by Bulgarian Land Development will have a serious impact on a site of natural beauty.

It is part of plans for a much bigger €40 million development that will have 351 homes, a spa centre, restaurants, golf and football pitches and five swimming pools.

Work begins on the €2.2 million first stage next month and it will have 55 apartments. ‘This development will destroy nature. It will also harm the coastline,’ said one group spokesman.

Meanwhile and Irish company, Blackwater Homes, which is currently promoting a 354 apartment complex in the Black Sea coast in Bulgaria, including a spa and a hotel, has filed for bankruptcy protection.

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June 20, 2007

Maltese warned not to buy property in Bulgaria

Filed under: Bansko properties, Beach properties, Bulgaria property, Mountain properties, Property development, Property news — Administrator @ 5:24 am

Are we looking at the beginning of the end? Only time will tell but in the mean time, here’s the article (from MaltaStar.com).

Serious property investors are now choosing not to invest in Bulgaria as the property market in this country is now saturated and property prices are expected to start decreasing soon as the property bubble has burst, local real estate advisor Alyona Frendo warns.

Experts are advising Maltese property investors not to continue with the dangerous trend of purchasing land and property in Bulgaria as investors may start losing money as from this year.

The main problem with Bulgaria is that everyone is building even with permission from Bulgaria’s permit authority and the Bulgarian Government announced that it will start tracking such illegal constructions and property. The authorities in Bulgaria are estimating that around 25 per cent of all property in Bulgaria is actually built without permit.

�When buying in another country, most people never do much more research than what is given to them from the investment company. This is a dangerous habit. Everyone between the potential buyer and the property is just a salesperson, and they all get paid on making sales.” said Alyona Frendo a local international property advisor.

Foreign citizens and companies have spent a total of 310 million euro in acquiring real estate in Bulgaria during the first three months of 2007.

Bulgarian National Bank data published on May 29 shows that the 310 million euro is an increase of 63 per cent compared with the same period in 2006 when foreigners spent a total of 190 million euro in Bulgaria�s property market. Proof of the impact that the real estate sector has on the Bulgarian economy is that the money spent on real estate accounted for close to 40 per cent of all foreign direct investment in Bulgaria in January-March 2007.

Bulgaria has also been criticised for focusing on the development of property at the expense of infrastructure projects, such as those for transportation.

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March 15, 2007

Moscow Real Estate Expo

Filed under: Bulgaria property, Property development, Property for sale, Property news — Administrator @ 3:21 am

Sofia Echo reports a record year for Bulgarian companies going to DOMEXPO, a Russian Real Estate Expo based in Moscow:

The Bulgarian participation was not only numerically the strongest of all foreign countries at Domexpo. In the four days of the exhibition, visitors were virtually queuing at the Bulgarian booths to inquire about the offers and the conditions for acquiring property in Bulgaria.

Bulgaria seems to have stolen the attention of Russia�s wealthy, including from traditional destinations such as Spain and Cyprus.

This is hardly surprising, given the real estate boom in 2006. The supply side is there, it remains to be seen if demand will continue to be strong.

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December 5, 2006

Bulgarian property market (2006)

Filed under: Bulgaria property, Property development, Property for sale, Property management, Property news — Administrator @ 2:56 pm

A few statisctistics for Bulgaria and Romania:

Bulgaria and Romania would register the highest growth in newly build retail property by the end of 2007, a real estate company Cushman & Wakefield report said.
The retail property growth would reach 150 per cent by 2007, the report said as quoted by the Romanian English language daily Nine O’clock.
Trade centres covering a total area of 98 000 sq m will be built in Bulgaria by the end of 2007.
Once Romania enters the European Union, it will become the second biggest retail property market in Central and Eastern Europe after Poland.
Romania plans to construct trade centres of total area of 560 000 sq m.
The countries from Central and Eastern Europe would register the highest growth in retail property supply, the report said.

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December 2, 2006

Bansko homes

Filed under: Bansko properties, Bulgaria property, Mountain properties, Property for sale, Property news — Administrator @ 2:37 pm

As prices for some properties in Bansko fall, there appears to be more choice for the selective buyer.

Historical houses, in some cases over 200 years old, are looking for buyers as well. Calling it your Bansko home might not be as straight-forward as buying an apartment though.

In most cases, these properties are not actively on the market and are in a sorry state. The owners have passed away and the people who inhereted them don’t care much about the property itself. They are still interested in selling the plot itself (often at bargain prices).

There are a few of these houses nearby Bansko as well, in a small town called Dobrinishte. Dobrinishte is a spa and thermal center with 17 mineral springs. The temperatures of the springs range from 33?? to 45??.

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November 17, 2006

Golf course near Bansko

Filed under: Bansko properties, Mountain properties, Property development, Property news — Administrator @ 2:29 pm

According to a press release:

Balkanstroy, the local construction company, will build a ski and golf complex near Bansko, South-western Bulgaria, said the InvestBulgaria Agency which is due to issue a First Class Investor certificate to the project. The 240 mln lev complex, located in the Kulinoto area, should be ready in 3 years.

Balkanstroy will built 20 km of ski lifts and 60 km of runs with a daily capacity of 6,500 skiers. The complex will have a total of 3,000 beds.
The golf component of the year-round complex will feature a golf course, clubhouse, hotel and retail facilities.

The new golf courses announced are part of the plan to turn Bansko in a all-seasons resort (complete with spas, horse racing, mountain biking, etc.).

Hopefully this will change the image of Bansko as a ski resort for yuppies (e.g. people working in Bulgaria’s IT outsourcing industry).

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September 6, 2006

GoWealthy: Bulgaria Property

Filed under: Bulgaria property, Investment property, Property for sale, Property news — Administrator @ 2:08 pm

GoWealthy reviews the top European destinations for the property buyer. Here’s a summary of the story:

Bulgaria will join the European Union on Jan 1, 2007, and is on the verge of becoming the Riviera on the Balkans. The improved economic conditions, political and social stability in Bulgaria over the last 3 years have culminated in a real boom of the prices of property in Bulgaria.

Other important factor for the rising property market is the huge tourism potential in the country. Incredibly, Bulgaria is now the third most popular holiday destination after Spain and France for British holidaymakers.

There isn’t anything new in the review, the property market statistics have indicated a similar trend.

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June 5, 2006

An Irish perspective

Filed under: Beach properties, Investment property, Property news — Administrator @ 1:30 am

A recent review of Bulgaria’s Black Sea resorts was published on Unison.ie:

While Spain and such baked in temperatures of 37 degrees, Bulgaria was a pleasant mid-to-late 20s, so one could move around without fear of heat stroke and that propelled us into moving off our loungers and going into Varna to potter and get some culture in.

Bulgaria is not retail/spa posh in the way we in Ireland have become used to, but it is lovely and decent and rich in other ways. I want to go back and explore much more.

In terms of package holidays, Bulgaria is a great value – even better than Morocco. Go there now while it is still a bargain, because in 2007 Bulgaria is to due to enter the European Union, and those of us already living in high-priced euro land know you can kiss goodbye to it being a good-value haven.

We went only for a week but my eight-year-old son and I wish we could have stayed longer. No English language TV and we still hadn�t managed to get bored. Amazing.

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May 27, 2006

Buying a winery at 60 P/E ratio

Filed under: Investment property, Property development, Property news — Administrator @ 5:34 am

I was reviewing several Bulgarian businesses for sale and I came across a Bulgarian winery that was sitting comfortably at an asking price of a cool 15 million euro.

Drilling deeper yielded more info: the winery wasn’t producing, rather it was producing vinegar. Earnings in the last year of operations – 250,000 euro on sales of 500,000.

The winery’s profit margin is healthy but where this monsterous P/E ratio is coming from. At 60 times earnings, it matches Google’s P/E and beats Microsoft’s by some 200%. Amazing.

Update: A Bulgarian real estate company will be listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. P/E yet to be seen!

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May 26, 2006

Thermal and Spa centres

Filed under: Investment property, Mountain properties, Property news — Administrator @ 5:06 am

Dobrinishte is a village just a few kilometers from Bansko. It sports 17 mineral springs: 16 natural and 1 through deep drilling. The temperatures of the springs range from 33?? to 45??. The water is colourless / odourless and a low mineral content which makes it suitable for drinking.

Dobrinishte - thermal and spa centres There is a numbe of projects that are focused on building artifical “villages” in traditional Bulgarian style around some of the springs.

The house prices (per square meter) are significantly higher than those of similar houses in Dobrinishte or Bansko. If you’d like access to a spa at all times or you feel like getting some much needed rest away from people, such a village is a good choice.

As an investment property, such a house could bring in significant rent as the spas are getting more and more popular. Being just a few kilometers from Pirin National Park can’t hurt either.

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