Burgas Airport Opens Charter Season

Business: 25 April 2005, Monday.

Bulgaria's Black Sea airport Burgas opens its charter season on Monday.

The first group of German tourists coming from Frankfurt is expected to arrive later in day.

The tourism season at Bulgaria's Southern Black Sea seaside will be inaugurated April 30 with 12 charter flights from Germany and UK.

More details on Summer Flights to Bourgas at charterflights.co.uk

House Prices Increase Worldwide, Bulgaria Reaches 31%

Business: 14 April 2005, Thursday.

House prices recorded an average increase of 8.7% in late 2004/early 2005 worldwide, shows data of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) and ResearchWorldwide.

According to the survey, which monitors 23 countries on a monthly basis, South Africa at 27.8%, Hong Kong 21.6%, Spain 17.2%, New Zealand 16.4% and France 16.0% top the house price annual percentage change list at present. China, Norway, United States, United Kingdom and Sweden complete the top 10 rankings.

Japan and Germany are at the bottom of the ranking with a registered drop in house prices.

For the sake of comparison, Bulgaria recorded an average increase of 31% for a 12-month period (Q4 2003 - Q4 2004).

Ignoring calls for "bursting bubbles" the man-in-the-street continues to demand residential property to buy not only in Bulgaria, says Deyan Kavrakov, President of FIABCI-Bulgaria and CEO of ADIS Ltd., Bulgaria's leading full service real estate company.

Investing in "bricks and mortar" continues to be more attractive than securities and bonds, he adds.

Experts define a deal as speculative when its return on investment outperforms those in mature markets (8-10%) and is at least 30-40 % and more.

There is no bubble on Bulgaria's property market, but due to its stage of development there may be inadequate prices in some segments, Kavrakov comments.

Prices are expected to slow down around 2007, followed by one year of "wait and see" and - as the experience of Central European countries shows - the market starts its own development, positive in most cases, according to him.

Kavrakov forecasts the price increase of residential property to be a double-digit figure in percentage in 2005, but considerably smaller than the previous year.

Novinite

Bulgaria lifts ban on lands sale to foreigners

Bulgaria, looking ahead to its hoped-for admission to the European Union in 2007, lifted a ban Friday that prevents foreigners from buying land in the former communist country. Bulgaria has already become the focus of a British property buying spree in the last couple of years, rural house hunters finding ways to avoid legislation.
In parliament Friday MPs from all political parties voted for the amendments on land sales in Bulgaria's constitution, bringing it into compliance with EU legislation.
There will be however a seven-year transition period before foreigners who are not permanent residents of Bulgaria at the time can buy land.
"Foreigners and their legal representatives can acquire the right of property over land, under the conditions following Bulgaria's EU accession, under an international agreement entering into force for Bulgaria, or through inheriting it," read the text of the amendment that finally legalized lands sale to foreign citizens.
The Bulgarian press has recently reported on an increasing number of foreigners who have registered companies in the country in order to be entitled to acquire property here despite of the law.
"Fifty British (citizens) have registered companies in Veliko Tarnovo (central Bulgaria) in order to buy a house there," reported Thursday the Bulgarian Monitor daily newspaper.
"Land for foreigners? But they already got it," Sega daily newspaper commented as far back as last November, saying that "until our MPs dawdle, debate and gambol over constitutional changes there will soon be hardly anything to change."
"Legislation indeed was not holding anybody back from buying land here," Paul Kornreich, a real estate company owner, told AFP.
Lead by the concern that foreigners are going to buy cheap agricultural land and use it for industrial purposes, left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party proposed during debates in parliament that only EU citizens be authorised to buy land and that only if they intend to use it for farming.
The proposition failed to get other parties' support but was widely backed by popular opinion.
A poll conducted by MBMD agency in November showed that 65 percent of a total of 1,216 people surveyed were against land sales to non-EU citizens.
"It might be good for my business but I am absolutely against it. Foreigners are all set to make money out of property bought for chicken feed," said Nadia Zafirova, a real estate company manager from Sofia.
"Most people usually buy land for some bigger project development like building business centres, hotels, malls. Not a single person I have talked to said they are going to buy land to farm it," Paul Kornreich added.
But most real estate agents do not really expect a rise in the number of "property speculators" as they call those aiming only at profit.
"Legislative changes should not be regarded as opening the flood gates to industrial companies, but to ordinary people. If a major buyout of land for industrial purposes was to happen, it was going to happen anyway, despite the ban," Adrian Musgrave, who has already bought a house in Bulgaria, told AFP.
Adrian and his wife settled in the village of Nikolaevo near Sliven in the southeast last September and are now helping other British people to buy what they call "the dream of a rural house with a garden, flower beds and fruit trees everybody is looking for but cannot get hold of in the UK."
"This is heaven. British people would die for this," Adrian explained.
His expectations are that constitutional amendments will spark a wave of "keen property buyers who will buy land to build houses and live here."

Imotibg.com

Bulgarian Property Registration Reforms

Bulgaria is targeting to complete its reform of the national property register and the cadastre by 2015, when all information currently held among the records of numerous state institutions will be brought together within one system.

The new unified information system which aims to provide “one-desk services”, will include end-to-end profile of the exact boundaries and location of each parcel of real estate, their quality and quantity characteristics, the estate law and restrictions if any on the real estate.

The national cadastre and real estate registration project is being funded by a World Bank loan of EUR 33.5 M awarded for the establishment of a national geo-information infrastructure.

Novinite

Tourism Increases by 50% in Bulgaria

According to statistics held by the Economy Ministry, over the past three years, the number of foreign tourists to Bulgaria increased 50%. According to the same records, investments in the tourism sector exceeded 500 million Euro over the past five years, with about 90% of private investments being of Bulgarian origin. A rapid increase has been seen in the construction of large-scale hotels at the Black Sea coast and at mountain resorts. This trend is expected to continue.

According to National Statistics Institute figures released on March 10, 2005, more than 7 million foreigners visited Bulgaria in 2004, up 11.9% year on year, of which 4 million were tourists. The largest increases in any one national group included visitors from Ireland up by 81.6%, the United Kingdom 60.5%, and Portugal 60%.

Sofia Echo

Kavrakov: Bulgaria Stands out among Property Hotspots

Exclusive Interview: 27 February 2005, Sunday.

Bulgaria has recently swept quite a success among prospective foreign home buyers, earning the status of the new property hotspot for those, who can't afford the inflated prices of Spain, France and Italy. To comment the trends and forecast future developments, Sofia News Agency Editor-in-Chief Milena Hristova approached Deyan Kavrakov, CRE, CIPS, CLHMS, CEO of ADIS Ltd., the leading full service real estate company in Bulgaria.

Q: Is Bulgaria a hotspot for foreigners looking for a second home for themselves? Do you believe the trend will carry on like that over the next few years?

A: Yes, Bulgaria's property market is an attractive investment for second-home foreign buyers. This is turning into a steady trend, having in mind the interest by individual buyers and property investors from the United Kingdom, Spain, Israel, to name but a few. We should view the trend as part of the dynamics and trends in second home purchase on the European market as a whole. The traditional hotspots in this respect are the developed markets of Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece, which are now being joined by Croatia and Bulgaria. They form the so-called Southern tier of Mediterranean countries, where second-home hunters from Central and Northern Europe are heading for. Unlike other countries from this region, Bulgaria has four distinct seasons - winter conditions here are good for skiing and holidaymaking, while the summer is hot. Bulgaria is bound to turn into a hotspot for holidaymakers, which will feed the interest of second home buyers. Bulgaria's upcoming accession to the European Union in 2007 will contribute to this trend, as the country will become its southeastern border, a binding link and a bridgehead to the Middle East.

Q: Which countries are more popular destinations for second home buyers than Bulgaria? Which are the attractions and disadvantages of Bulgaria and Sofia, in particular?

A: Bulgaria's property market is very dynamic, but still could be defined as developing. Ahead of us are countries with mature markets. The above mentioned Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece belong to the group of countries with mature markets. Bulgaria tries to catch up with them. Our apparent rival is Croatia, whose market is growing from the same staring point and at comparable speed.

As I already mentioned Bulgaria is part of Europe's Southern tier and will benefit from its future, infrastructure projects, economy and market. This is our biggest advantage.

As far as Sofia's attractions are concerned, it is blossoming into a European capital that offers services, logistics, conditions for holiday making and business well up to European standards.

One of its greatest disadvantages is the road system, which should definitely be improved to fit a European capital.

Q: Which are the most popular regions for foreign home buyers in Bulgaria?

A: We can single out several regions on condition that the most attractive are those yet to be discovered and appreciated. The fore-Balkan, starting from the villages of Ribaritsa and Apriltsi, and eastwards along its axis - Troyan, Tryavna, hold tremendous potential - breath-taking nature, preserved customs, clean environment. We should not skip the sub-Balkan valleys, moving southwards to Rila, Pirin and Rhodope Mountains. Sofia has its own pros, with citizens nearing 2 million, it will soon account for 30% of the country's population.

Q: Is Bulgaria's market attractive for large-scale investments in comparison with Central European countries? How does it rank in terms of average returns?

A: It would not be fair to talk about large-scale investments in Bulgaria, whose population totals 7,5 million. We can apply the term fully to the markets of neighboring Turkey and Romania, whose territory, population and consequently demand are much larger.

It is well known that the return on investment makes an investment good. The Return on Investment rates in the real estate sector in Bulgaria reached 18% on average last year, which I consider to be very attractive.

Q: Prices of residential properties in Sofia picked up sharply over the last months. Is it appropriate to expect that Sofia can near prices in Prague or Budapest, having in mind its infrastructure and geographic location?

A: Sofia won't be able to have identical price of residential real estate with Prague and Budapest, just as they won't equal London prices. As an expert, I would divide the question in two. In the short- and medium-term (8-10 years), there will be a difference between prices in Sofia and Prague/Budapest, but then the gap will gradually start to get narrower. In the long term, prices of residential property in Sofia will get closer and more comparable to those in Prague and Budapest. But this will take one more decade.

Q: How would you comment talks that real estate property prices have escalated to the point of almost a speculative "bubble"?

A: I would like to be as precise as possible as this is a widely debated issue. One of the characteristics of a developing market, such as Bulgaria's, are speculative deals. We could define a deal speculative when its return on investment, outperforms those in mature markets (8-10%) and is at least 30-40 % and more. The moment the market gets developed and mature, there won't be many speculative deals. It will take two to three years for Bulgaria to get there.

These should not be regarded as negative trends because speculative real estate investments and deals are part of the business.

It is a different issue that property buyers and investors should first consult well-known experts with long years of experience, practice and references from stable clients to avoid speculative intentions.

There is no bubble in Bulgaria's property market. Due to its stage of development there may be inadequate prices in some categories of residential areas. The increase in prices is expected to slow down around 2007, followed by one year of "wait and see" and - as the experience of Central European countries shows - the market starts its own development, positive in most cases.

Q: What is your forecast for 2005 concerning prices in the different real estate segments - office, commercial, industrial areas, residential property?

A: When the market contains speculative elements and is still developing, no forecast for the rise in prices could sound serious. I expect the price increase of commercial and residential property to be a double-digit figure in percentage, one-digit figure with office and industrial sector. We should follow closely the historical statistics of the Central European countries, especially during the last two years prior to their accession to the European Union.

Novinite

Biodar Real Estate offers a unique service "BUY FROM A DISTANCE!"

April 12, 2004 - Biodar Launches "BUY FROM A DISTANCE!" Service
Biodar Real Estate offers a unique service "BUY FROM A DISTANCE!", that gives an opportunity to those clients who wish to acquire property in Bulgaria without having to travel the distance. This service is unique for Bulgaria and Biodar Real Estate is the first company to offer it. The service is especially useful for those buyers who wish to buy "off-plan" apartments and are already familiar with the area where the construction works take place (or will take place). Our clients can benefit from lower agent commissions, avoiding travel costs and time saving. The new service is a consequence of our experience with a number of clients, who have already bought property from distance.

For more information please visit Biodar

Property investing in Bulgaria: the pros and cons

Article by Lorna Bourke, Money Columnist at Citywire UK, 10th April 2005 *with excerpts

With residential property in the UK having peaked for the foreseeable future, investors have been casting around for alternative locations with investment potential, and Bulgaria fits the bill.

Many investors have already spotted that Bulgaria offers very good value for money, with letting potential as a holiday destination. The best investment opportunities include the ski resort of Bansko and the Black Sea resorts of Varna and Bourgas. The capital Sofia is developing rapidly as a commercial centre, signalling that capital appreciation and rental yields should be very strong in the future.
Bulgaria saw property price increases of 35% in 2004 but average yields on rental properties are still 8% to 12% with most investors (80%) buying in the Black Sea coastal resorts and 15% in ski areas. Some 80% are investing in new developments.

For example, studio apartments in the Black Sea resort of Sunny Beach can cost as little as £16,850.

There are good opportunities for both city-centre buy-to-let properties and holiday homes with letting potential, but despite promising returns, investors must be wise to the risks involved of buying in an emerging economy.
Low prices attract purchasers who are keen for a quick-fix solution to pension shortfalls, but as many agents will admit there is no guaranteed resale market in Bulgaria and little existing benchmark for measuring price increases other than more and more investors paying higher prices monthly.
That is why long-term investment are recommend to instant returns.

There is a genuine demand for quality rental properties but written contracts with holiday companies are vital as a means of ensuring a guaranteed yield. Travel agents and tour operators who are no longer enjoying big mark-ups in Spain are looking for higher profit margins in Bulgaria and this does underpin the long-term future. High street travel agents and tour operators do have a substantial number of sun and ski holidays available in Bulgaria today and they are selling well, boding well for future returns for quality locations and developments.

Pinsapo Realty now offering homes in Bulgaria

Apartment in Sofia €64,000 

Pinsapo Realty, leading international property agents based in Spain, announce new affiliation with Bulgaria property agent, increasing potential benefits for investors seeking property in Bulgaria.

International property agents Pinsapo Realty have secured an affiliation agreement in Bulgaria, allowing both existing and potential clients greater options to invest in Bulgaria. Through their locally based affiliate agent, Pinsapo Realty are now able to offer more than 2,000 properties for sale in Bulgaria at excellent rates. These properties in Bulgaria range from €3,000 to the top of the range bracket, from small apartments to spacious new developments, rural properties to the luxurious villas right next to the ski lifts.

Property the fastest growing asset in Bulgaria. In 2003 property prices in Bulgaria saw an overall increase of more than 25%. Some properties increased by 50% in one year, especially in Sofia, the Black Sea beach resorts and ski resorts (mainly Borovets and Bansko).

The improved economic conditions, political and social stability in Bulgaria over the last 3 years have brought to a real boom of Bulgarian property prices. Another important factor for the rising property market in Bulgaria is the country’s large tourism potential. There are many natural attractions, including high mountains, the beautiful and clean Black Sea coast, preserved rural areas, as well as a great cultural and historical heritage.

Situated with their main office in Marbella, Málaga, Spain, their position provides Pinsapo Realty with a unique opportunity of being able to act as a co-ordination and sales centre for international real estate between countries such as Bulgaria, Dubai, Croatia, Russia, South Africa, Spain and the USA. With associate offices in all of the regions mentioned, including their newly appointed affiliate property agent in Bulgaria, Pinsapo Realty are able to promote re-sale and new development properties no matter where they might be.

Should it be an apartment, a villa, a holiday home or investment project you are looking for in Bulgaria (or other countries) Pinsapo Realty is able to offer advice and a wide range of options, securing your international property investment for your peace of mind.

To see Pinsapo Realty's comprehensive Bulgaria property listings, or for more information about their international property portfolio,
visit Pinsaporealty
or call us on
+34 952 898 481

An expat's experience of living in Bulgaria

In seven years, Konstantinos has not had a single bad experience in Bulgaria, he says.

KONSTANTINOS Soupilas has been living in Bulgaria with his family for seven years and so far has not had a single bad experience.
Because of the nature of his work, he has been travelling a lot, both in the Balkans and in other parts of Europe, but likes to think of Bulgaria as his second, if not his first, home.
His son, Dimitris, is six years old, has lived most of his life in Bulgaria and is rather fluent, even to native-speaker level, in Bulgarian.
“When they ask him what his name is, he replies ‘Mitko’,” Soupilas said.
He came to Bulgaria seven years ago to work as an adviser to the Bulgarian Government on cross-border PHARE programmes between Bulgaria and Greece but had been visiting the country on and off for several years before that.
“When I first came to Bulgaria, I did not know much about the country, even though I come from Thessaloniki, which is not that far away,” Soupilas said.
Even though Bulgaria is quite different from Greece in terms of climate, architecture, the sea and the mountains, both Soupilas and his wife were pleasantly surprised by the country.
He finds the differences between the countries quite stimulating. “It has happened that I left Thessaloniki in 18 degrees C and arrive in Sofia at minus 2,” he said. “In summer, though, when it is very hot in Greece, it is cooler and more pleasant in Sofia. So I think that it is a very good combination in many aspects.”
It is really hard for Soupilas to remember what was the first thing about Bulgaria that surprised him but one clear memory is the snow, when he arrived in Sofia in January.
“I was not used to the snow, although I was living for a long time in France and Brussels, but I was not used at all to such snow,” he said. “To me it was a shock to have so much snow so close to Greece.”
Another thing that really impressed him was when he visited Bulgaria for the third time, which happened to be on the first day of March. “As I was crossing the border, there was a group of people going from one side of the border to the other, giving martenitsi to people,” he said. “I was really impressed because we don’t have this in Greece. I remember hearing something about this when I was a child. And then on the next day when I go to the office, I was almost attacked by co-workers who were trying to give me martenitsi. I found this something really special because it also has a pagan approach and brings good health and is very traditional,” Soupilas said, smiling and showing the martenitsa on his wrist. “And because it was spring I have very fond memories of this.”
He could not remember what was the first word he ever learned in Bulgarian, but said that his knowledge of Russian helped him a lot in learning the language.
“I did not know for how long I was going to stay in the country but I really wanted to learn the language,” he said. “I even took some lessons and now I can understand almost everything and talk to people. What gave me lot of trouble to learn was “s udovolstvie” but the first words I learned were “smetkata” and “menuto” because I needed food from the very first day I arrived.”
The knowledge of the language helps him a lot in his travels, both on business and with his family and there are very few places in Bulgaria he has not been to.
“We like to spend our weekends in places like Arbanassi and Kovachevitsa and in Bansko,” he said. “We love the mountains a lot, particularly the Rhodope mountains between Smolyan and Kurdjali. There are places that are really unique and we like going there again and again. The Trun region for instance, near the Serbian border is very wild and beautiful.
Soupilas said he thinks that Bulgaria has changed a lot in these past seven years.
“People smile a lot more than back then,” he said. “You feel that there is another open side of the Bulgarians, which you see more. Of course, outside big urban centres like Sofia, Varna and Plovdiv, there are still a lot of things that have to be done and life is not easy.
“But what I have observed from the beginning is that the Bulgarians take a long time to understand you and to observe you but once you gain their confidence, they are yours,” he said. “From the very beginning I came with a lot of respect for the people and their traditions, because I think that this is the only way to learn more. I must say that because of this, I have received a lot of respect and got many friends. This is the important thing and I have discussed it many times with expatriates - we have to understand that here we are guests and we have to understand the momentum of the country, the circumstances, the tradition, because the easiest thing is to come and take a certain model and start saying ‘I don’t like this and I don’t like that’. The important thing is to understand what is happening and why things and people are like this.”
Another striking thing about Bulgarians and Bulgarian is that there are many common expressions, idioms and slang with Greek, even though the languages are totally different. “And people have a similar way of thinking,” he said. “The sense of humour is very close as well.”
Soupilas said that apart from the climate and the geography, Greeks and Bulgarians have more things in common than differences. “And there is definitely one common future within the European family and when Bulgaria joins the EU, Greece would have for the first time a common border with another member state,” he said.
Soupilas said that unlike in Greece, Bulgarians tend to celebrate their traditions a lot more. “I went to a Trifon Zarezan celebration once and I was impressed,” he said. According to him Bulgarians don’t celebrate name days as much as Greeks do, even though they observe certain traditions connected to those name days, like St. Theodoros (Todorov Den) and St. Atanassios (St. Atanas). “I realised that there is a lot of tradition behind some of the name days, while in Greece the most important thing is to congratulate the person on the name day,” he said. “Here people get more upset if you forget them on their birthday.”
Soupilas said that living in Bulgaria has changed him a lot. “This is a very dynamic period in my personal and professional life,” he said. “I think that Bulgaria has become a part of my life and I will come back when I have the chance. What I will miss would be that period of my life. Bulgaria is a part of my life and sometimes I regret that I did not try to by an apartment or a piece of land so that I have a point of reference to come back to.”

From The Sofia Echo 28/03/2005

Luxury Property for sale in Varna Bulgaria

Luxury House 12km from Varna €72,000 

These fantastic houses are being constructed right now! Located just 12 km from Varna, these twins houses are situated in the village of Priselci, an area known for it fresh clean air. Each building is up area 143 sq.m. and includes 3 bedrooms , 2 bathrooms and 2 WC , kitchen and living-room, and a big veranda. It is possible to have the options of a BBQ area ,a swimming-pool professionally landscaped gardens and a garage. Each house has a 400 sq.m. garden area.

For more details visit Summerfield Properties

In the News : Go-Ahead for Sofia's Most Luxurious Resident Complex

Lord Anthony St John of Bletso (C), chairman of the Investment Committee of Equest, launched the construction works of Sofia's most luxurious resident complex Embassy Suites.

The first sod of Sofia's most luxurious resident complex Embassy Suites was dug up Thursday in the presence of many journalists, partners and representatives of the investors.

The main investor in the major project, Immofinance, is a subsidiary of Equest investment fund.

Lord Anthony St John of Bletso, member of the Lords' Chamber and chairman of the Investment Committee of Equest, along with the other participants in the official ceremony signed a special Massage to the generations, which was laid in the foundations of the Embassy Suites.

Embassy Suites is an exclusive gated community project of Immofinance and full service real estate company ADIS Ltd. The complex spreads on a 16 000 sq m land plot in the skirts of the Vitosha Mountain in Sofia.

It consists of 2 areas: Park Zone (4-storey residential buildings) and City Zone (8-storey building, comprising 2 000 sq m of retail space and six residential floors). The area of the apartments is between 99 sq m and 250 sq m, all standing out with its elegance of architecture and luxury finishing.

The habitants of the 80 apartments in the complex will be served by the commercial area with its bank office, restaurant, coffee bar, hairdresser, dry cleaning, video store, and a fitness hall.

The primary focus of Immofinance, the main investor in the project, is investments in real estate property and work in the field of tourism, recreation and rehabilitation as well as strategic partnerships with international financial institutions and property development companies. The company was founded in 2004 in affiliation with Equest Investments Bulgaria Ltd. by a team of experienced real-estate investment and banking professionals.

Immofinance is partnered in this project by Bulgaria's leading full service real estate company Domestic Diplomatic Properties Agency ADIS Ltd.

Livel EOOD, which has 15 years of experience, was chosen to be the constructor of the major project.

Novinite