News

  The construction of a new residential building, with a design focused on the higher class of the luxury properties, is planned to start by the end of September.

  The MERCURE investment project belongs to Bulgaria Investment Group LTD and is realised through its daughter company Lozenets Investment Group. The building was designed by Kazakov Architectural Group EOOD with Group Manager Tihomir Kazakov. The total built-up area without the basement is about 5888 square meters. It is situated on a plot of 1825 square meters on Cherni Vrah boulevard in Krastova Vada area. MERCURE is a luxury residential building which will offer a set of services and equipment, the investors announced. 

  The Spanish real estate companies continue to pile on the Bulgarian market, motivated by its resemblance with the Iberian market some years ago and the possibilities for future growth. Another contractor – Grupo Metro 2000, plans to invest 70 million euro in Bulgaria, joined the Riofisa, Grupo Urbas and Ferry Group already operating here.

  The company plans to invest some 20 million euro in land purchases until the end of 2008 and a further 50 million in the construction of office and residential buildings, as announced one of the company directors – Julian Dias-Santos, in an interview made for the SeeNews agency.

  Pinned between the slowing growth of the prices of residences and the huge offering in their own country, a substantial number of Spanish companies seek growth in foreign countries. They used to invest traditionally in Latin America and Africa, but lately they have been gradually increasing their investments in Central and Eastern Europe.

  “The Bulgarian market closely resembles the Spanish one 20 years ago” – confided Mr. Dias-Santos in the interview.

  The building process and the real estate properties, closely intertwined with the tourism industry, have for long years been the one of the most important sectors and an engine driving the Spanish economy forward. But the large number of residences on offer, as well as the slowing rise of the prices in the course of the last two years, which is expecting to continue, have forced the companies to redistribute their activities and to consolidate.

   The extension of Sofia's sole underground line to the residential district of Mladost is progressing according to schedule, the city's deputy mayor in charge of transport Velizar Stoilov said on Friday.

  Japan's Taisei Corporation, which won the tender to build the extension, is working simultaneously to reinforce the downtown station at Sheraton hotel and the new station at the Sofia University.

  At the same time, one of the two tunnels between the university and the station at the national stadium has been completed, Stoilov said.

   A property you can buy on your credit card? It is not as improbable as it sounds. Despite surging markets around the world, there are still places where you can pick up something habitable for the price of the average family car.

  Rural Bulgaria is a good place to start. Bulgarian Properties (00 359 2 868 1188, www.bulgarianproperties.com) has a wide range of village houses from just £5,000. But be ready to do some work – and don’t expect an indoor lavatory.

  Other former communist countries are slightly more expensive, but you can buy a country house in Prekmurje, the picturesque wine-growing region of northeast Slovenia, for example, for £17,000 (00 386 41 682614, www.sloveniacottages.com). Or look across the border in Slovakia or Hungary, where £50,000 would buy a house near Lake Balaton, a holiday spot for much of the former communist world (Balaton Properties, 020 7078 7246, www.balatonproperties.co.uk).

Over the past few years, property supply has exceeded demand in Bulgaria’s leading resorts.

The vacation property market is reaching its saturation point and a number of resorts already suffer from over-construction and the lack of proper infrastructure, participants in the first Balkan real estate conference BalRec said.

In order to attract new clients, resorts should start offering unique projects and better infrastructure condition, investor.bg reported.

 The construction permit taxes in Bulgaria’s capital will increase gradually, Sofia’s chief architect Petar Dikov said.

The process will probably start in the coming year, Dikov said during the first Balkan real estate conference BalRec.

Sofia can accumulate the funds needed for infrastructure development only through tax increase, Dikov said.

 Investors in Bulgaria’s coastal regions are failing to find buyers for their newly-built hotels. Nearly 30 new hotels were offered for sale over the past year, 24 Chassa daily reported. Only 250 hotels were on sale in southern coastal regions. The hotels are being sold in all stages of construction. The average price is 856 euro per sq m.

The commercial property market in Bulgaria is expected to grow by 300 per cent in the next three to five years, Colliers Bulgaria real estate agency head Atanas Garov said. Garov took part in a conference linked to the upcoming Balkan Property exhibition (BalPex), investor.bg reported.

 Prices of apartments in Sofia slightly increased in April, data of Foros real estate agency showed. The average price increase in Sofia for new construction, panel buildings and brick-made buildings for April is 4.42 per cent. Lozenets residential district experienced an increase of 10.77 per cent. Prices there reached 1080 euro per sq m.

The price increase of residential property in Bulgaria after the country’s EU accession is sufficiently higher than expected, research ordered by investor.bg showed.

The price hike concerns both old and new construction in Sofia and in other bigger cities and towns.