Beware Cheap and Nasty Bulgarian Dream : A Response

A response to Rosie Murray-West's article : Beware Cheap and Nasty Bulgarian Dream : Daily Telegraph 26/03/2005

Rosie Murray-West might well have entitled her article in the Telegraph yesterday, “How Dare you Wealth [ier] Brits Take Advantage of Poor[er] Bulgarians”. The article takes exception to the large number of British planning to buy property in cheap Bulgaria, a country she claims potential buyers know little about … except of course that the property is cheap!

The author appears to be most irked by the fact that foreigners are driving up property prices. Ok, ethically, this has implications. Those living in Bulgaria on low wages will be priced out of the property market in their own country, particularly if they live in the areas more popular with tourists. But this type of gentrification is happening all over the world, not only in Bulgaria. It’s the consequence of the ‘pension-in-a-property’ boom. One of the consequences of this is quite often renewed interest in rural areas, 20-50 km outside larger cities, areas that otherwise would remain neglected.

The situation was the same for Spain two or three decades ago. With the rise of the foreign holiday as a luxury the masses could afford, Brits began to flock to sun soaked Spain. Their interest promoted an influx of developers who took advantage of Spain’s popularity with tourists and built affordable holiday homes. This encouraged many of the tourists to invest in their own little piece of paradise, with the advantage of being able to extend their own stay and encourage others in by letting their proeprty. The result over the years was a continuing rise in property prices but also a strengthening tourist economy, a well-developed infrastructure and growing opportunities and financial benefits for native Spaniards.

Property prices in Spain are now so high that Brits are forced to look for cheaper alternatives. In turning to Bulgaria, the cycle will begin again. In fifteen to twenty year’s time, the Bulgarian property market may well be over-priced for second home buyers and once again the search will begin for new and cheap destinations. In the mean time Bulgaria will have grown on the strength of its EU membership. It will have pumped millions of Euros into improving infrastructure. Tourism will have generated huge amounts of wealth for the economy and the poverty that characterises the country now may well be very much a thing of the past!

Should all investors and second-home buyers follow Rosie Murray-West’s logic and choose not to invest in Bulgaria because it is ‘tasteless’ to take advantage of the poverty there, Bulgaria may well remain a neglected and overlooked economy, characterised by deprivation and stunted economic growth.

Tracey Meagher
PropertyAuthors.com