Real estate breaks record

THE Wall Street Journal reported in June that the prices of real estate in Bulgaria jumped 48 per cent last year, a world record and the highest rise in prices registered in any country.
Even the most developed countries have seen drastic price increases in the last three or four years. Though surprising, the rises in Bulgaria were part of global trend. 
"Over the past three years, measures of housing values are up 48 per cent in France, 33 per cent in Brazil and they have nearly doubled in South Africa," the journal wrote. "In just the past year, prices have risen 19 per cent in Hong Kong."
The newspaper said that low interest rates were the main driving force behind the boom. But there are several other factors, including the intensifying flow of capital, aggressive bank-lending and a frantic search by investors, large and small, to find better returns than those offered by stocks and bonds.   
Foreign capital is behind a serious part of the Bulgarian real estate boom, according to surveys in June. Bulgarian companies have invested more than five billion leva of their own funds in real estate during the last two-and-a-half years, according to a report by Creditex, a credit management agency. Much of the money has been poured into high-end residential property.
In past months, real estate agents have had some disagreements about the domestic market, with some saying that a drop in prices by 20-25 per cent is expected in the second half of 2005 and others saying that market segments, such as luxury housing, will continue to rise because demand still outmatches supply. 
Most realtors agree that prices for agricultural land will rise the fastest when the country joins the European Union.
Two large-scale investments by foreign property developers in Bulgaria attracted attention in June. First, the UK-based fund Equest Partners announced plans to inject 50 million leva to support the growth of domestic supermarket chain Familia, which aims to become a major local food retailer.
Equest handled its move through its Equest Investments Bulgaria fund, which acquired slightly more than 30 per cent in Familia with a hike in capital.
The fund agreed to contribute more investment in the next three to five years if Familia needed further backing for its development. Familia said it would invest money by opening new stores, training staff and developing better knowledge, products and services. 
Familia has 17 stores in Sofia, where it competes against major foreign supermarket chains like Billa, HIT and Metro and Bulgaria's Evropa and Fantastico. Familia's goal is to promote convenience.
The fund, which has raised 120 million euro for investment in the country, has so far invested 70 million euro in equity in four companies in real estate and auto sales. The fund now plans to invest in the financial services sector.
Bulgarian Property Developments, which is traded on the London Stock Exchange, bought six properties in Bulgaria, five in Sofia and one in Bansko. Four of the properties are on Sofia's ring road, close to the airport, and the fifth less than a five-minute drive away. The property in Bansko will be used, according to a preliminary plan, for an apartment complex. 
Colliers assessed the first four properties as being worth more than 3.5 million euro, though they were bought for 2.5 million. The company plans to buy properties in other cities.
The property exhibition Immobilia Bulgaria in Varna, set to open on July 5, will sell property all over Bulgaria. The Sofia Echo is one of the exhibition's media partners and will be an active participant in the event.  
Developers, architects, banks, realtors, analysts and property renovators will be at the exhibition which runs through July 9.
Immobilia Bulgaria will next appear in Bourgas from August 18 through August 21, and then in Sofia in October. In 2006, the fair will take part in the spring edition of the Plovdiv International Fair.

BULGARIA AMONG EUROPE'S FASTEST
DEVELOPING TOURIST DESTINATIONS

Bulgaria is one of Europe's fastest developing destinations, a report of the tourism commission with the European Union shows. Bulgaria's Economy Ministry reported that a total of 4, 047, 863 foreigners visited the country in 2003 in that way marking a rise of 18% year on year. Bulgaria's fast developing speed puts it ahead of Italy, according to the data. The survey also revealed that Bulgaria achieved that great success at a time when the world tourism faces hard times as in 2003 it marked a decline of -1.2%. Latest data from Bulgaria's Economy Ministry shows that the number of European tourists that visited the Balkan country over the last 2003 have gone up by 25.3% as compared to 2002. Bulgaria enjoys greatest interest among tourists from UK, Luxembourg, Germany, Greece and the Netherlands. In December 2003 alone the number of foreign tourist in Bulgaria went up by 28.34% as compared to December 2002. The 2003 tourism revenues are expected to reach USD 1.6 B that marks an increase of 20%.

BULGARIA - EU BALKAN FAVOURITE

Bulgaria is the favorite among Balkan countries for European Union accession in 2007, according to the European Commission president Romani Prodi. Romania and Croatia come after Bulgaria, Prodi said, as cited by the Macedonian newspaper "Vreme". The European Commission is expected today to report positively to the European parliament on the Croatian application. An EU summit in June is then expected to offer membership talks. The number of tourists from the European Union coming to Bulgaria has gone up by over 46 percent. More and more tourists from UK, Germany as well as from different Central European countries come to Bulgaria. Their number has increased by 25,3 percent just in five months, Bulgaria's Economy Ministry reported. More than 1,248,138 foreigners visited Bulgaria in the period January- May. The Greeks lead the ranking of foreigners coming to Bulgaria, some 56,34 percent more as compared to the same period in 2003. The British and German tourists closely follow them. A total of 57, 517 Britains visited Bulgaria during the same period in that way going up by 73,09 percent. Bulgaria's revenues from international tourism over the first three months of 2004 amounted to EUR 199,8 M in that way marking an increase of 28,8 percent.

THE BEACHES OF BULGARIA ARE ATTRACTING A NEW GENERATION OF BRITISH VISITORS

While the likes of Sunny Beach have been compared with Blackpool, all-inclusive resorts such as Elenite are aiming for more well-to-do customers.These past few years have been nervous times for world tourism. Popular short-haul destinations such as Spain are doing all they can to stanch an ebbing tide, but one former joke destination is having the last laugh: Bulgaria. A tourism bonanza has spread along the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. After decades of plugging away at the bottom end of the market, resorts such as Sunny Beach and Golden Sands are experiencing a new lease of life. Grand new hotels are sprouting up to accommodate a big increase in visitors, a good proportion of whom are British, trying out Bulgaria for the first time. Various factors play their part in this success. Initially, Bulgarian tourism was bouncing back after the loss of business caused by the Balkan crisis of the 1990s. That recovery coincided with an economic downturn in Western Europe that steered holidaymakers towards cheaper alternatives. Meanwhile Bulgarian hotels had been refurbished, partly prompted by the need to raise standards for entry to the EU, and partly thanks to foreign investment by multinational tour operators. In the past three years the big guns of British package tourism — JMC, First Choice, Airtours, Thomson — have all announced new programmes to Bulgaria, while the long-term operator, Balkan Holidays, has enjoyed annual increases of 30 to 40 per cent. Among those benefiting from this new interest is Mira, one of the many masseurs working the strand at Sunny Beach. “Every year we get lots of new people,” he said cheerfully as he pummelled away at my stiff shoulder at a rate of Ј8 per half hour. “I no longer need to be here all day, every day, to make money. I can spend some time with my girlfriend. And I, like you, can go to the beach. ” Mira’s workplace is warm and sunny but without being overpoweringly hot, with a sea that is clean and far less salty than the Mediterranean. Resort prices, particularly for alcohol and restaurant meals, are low, and where once there were Stalinist blocks with plastic chairs, now there are newbuilds with architectural flair and designer style. Locals such as Mira are hard-working, cheerful and happy to be a part of a success story after many crisis years in the national economy. There’s nightlife if you want it, but the main emphasis has been on a more mature market — and on holidays for families. “We normally go to Ibiza,” say Sonya Golding and Gayle Farmer, from Staffordshire, in the resort of Golden Sands with their respective husbands and five children aged between 5 and 11. “But we read about Bulgaria in the paper, and it sounded as if the prices were about to go up, so we thought we’d better come. ”Golden Sands is the original Bulgarian resort, set in sloping woodland and fronted by 3.5km (2 miles) of beach. Proximity to Bulgaria’s third city, Varna, makes it seem more metropolitan, and it is popular with a young Scandinavian and German beach and boogie crowd who get going after 10pm. For the families from Staffordshire, it has been a mixed experience. Their three-star family hotel, the Sirena, has been good, but the children have truggled with the half board-menu, and have had to top up with visits to McDonald’s.

December 22, 2004 2 days left to Christmas Eve and first snow for the season fell to bring the holiday spirit in Varna. Snow is not very common for the seaside town, so it was like a special gift for all locals and visitors. Click to view more pictures ...

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