Latest News BulgariaPosted by property_bulgaria Sun, February 14, 2010 11:15:49
Average housing property prices in Bulgaria will hit rock bottom by the
middle of 2010 before settling in the following months and then
starting to pick up, rising by at least 10 per cent by the end of the
year, according to Tihomir Tsakov, manager of Bulgarian real estate
agency Aristo.
Tsakov
said that if there is no unexpected turn of events in the economy,
prices will hit bottom at the beginning of 2010. The market will be
also spurred by the slight drop in the cost of borrowing, coupled with
the waning supply of quality offers.
This forecast clashes with
projections made by other major real estate agencies such as Colliers,
Address and Foros, which expect the fall will continue thoughout the
first half of the year, tumbling by 10 per cent before settling.
Tatyana Emilova, housing space manager at Colliers, said that complete recovery could be expected over the next 12 to 18 months.
Tsvetelina
Taseva, executive director of Address, said the market will depend on
which route banks take. If they opt for quickly selling foreclosed
properties as bad loans proliferate, prices will come down. If they
choose to hold on to them, the supply of good property will be reduced
significantly.
more
Source: sofiaecho.com
Latest News BulgariaPosted by property_bulgaria Sun, February 14, 2010 11:11:11
If you are renting a house or apartment, there are several things you
might want to consider for real peace of mind – some are obvious, some
not…
Over the next couple of weeks in The Sofia Echo, we’re offering 10 tips for renting in Sofia.
Location: property people always say that the top three things to consider are "location, location, and location".
With
Sofia’s traffic, location is certainly an issue. Even though this is a
fairly small town, the traffic is bad and getting around is not easy –
though recent extensions to the Metro are helping.
For most
people, the key things are to make sure that your commute to work is
easy, and that there are good restaurants nearby. With a limited
number of supermarkets around town, good access to the shops is also a
factor.
Most new arrivals start by wanting to rent in the
centre of town – especially Doctors’ Garden. But rentals there are
few, and expensive.
Old Sofia hands tend to head for the lower
slopes of Vitosha: the villages of Dragalevtsi, Simeonovo and Boyana,
where the air is fresher and the pace of life less hectic.
Up-and-coming areas for expatriate rentals include Iztok, Izgrev,
Manastirski Livadi and Ivan Vazov.
more
Source: sofiaecho.com
Latest News BulgariaPosted by property_bulgaria Sun, February 14, 2010 10:54:54
Residential properties in the Bulgarian capital Sofia could fall by
another 10% this year followed by a period of stabilization, according
to analysts.
"The real estate sector should not be viewed as the driver of the
economy. It is just a supporting industry,” Atanas Garov, Managing
Director at Colliers International Bulgaria, told Darik Radio.
“Our forecasts are for a slight decrease in the residential property
prices and in Sofia the fall is expected to be an average of 10%. It
will be sharpest at the beginning of the year,” Garov said.
The same trend will apply to the other types of property as well, according to him.
The statement comes amidst recent hopes that 2010 would see a
recovery in the hard hit Bulgarian real estate market as already lower
prices would entice buyers back, especially those seeking a bargain.
more
Source: novinite.com
Latest News BulgariaPosted by property_bulgaria Sun, February 07, 2010 21:13:52
Real estate market experts in Bulgaria say that in the middle of 2010
investors will restart work on some stalled construction projects,
gradually raising the prices in the sector. Experts also claim the
market currently offers some good opportunities for buying high-quality
real estate properties at reasonable prices.
It is a fact that
in the second half of 2009 the Bulgarian real estate market was much
more dynamic in comparison to the beginning of the year.
This was
due mainly to lowered prices in the sector. The banks also brought
dynamism to the market by slowly reducing the mortgage interest rates.
Most of the buyers were people who urgently needed a home or those who
needed a bigger one. People who had spare cash and saw good offers also
bought real estates. There were almost no investments in real estate
properties in the second half of 2009. Currently, people are generally
looking for a price below 1000 euro per sq meter, and also want
investors to carry out the finish work.
Real estate prices in
expensive Sofia districts have dropped by 19-23%. Colliers
International, which prepares reports on the Bulgarian real estate
market, has pointed out that in 2009 construction of residential
buildings rose by 50% compared to 2008. Tatyana Emiilova from the
company made a forecast on the market trends in 2010
moreSource: bnr.bg
Latest News BulgariaPosted by property_bulgaria Sun, February 07, 2010 21:09:34
Bulgaria is undergoing a boom in the renewable
energy sector that experts warn could see an influx of dodgy investment
and actually end up doing more harm than good for the environment.
And the government - the main driver behind the boom - is taking note.
This
month it imposed a half-year moratorium on new "green" energy projects
in a bid to sift out those with serious financing and prevent a vital
Black Sea bird migration route from being built over with wind farms.
"Too many tickets have been sold for this show,"
Economy and Energy Minister Traicho Traykov told an investors' forum
earlier this month.
"We need to get the sector in order," he said.
The
number of "green" energy projects in Bulgaria has exploded from almost
nil just a few years ago to a proposed 12,000 megawatts (MW) from wind
farms, solar energy parks and small hydropower stations, a government
expert said.
That figure is equal to Bulgaria's current installed capacity and would be impossible to handle by the grid.
Experts agree that many of the planned projects will never actually come to fruition due to a lack of funding.
more
Source: independent.co.uk
