March 8th, 2010 — 1:03pm
The forecasts for a slow down on the property market in Bulgaria came true – it is back to the levels of 2004. The number of deals with real estate have dropped by 35% in 2009 and stopped at 200 678. This drop was deeper than the one in 1997 – 1998 when the country experienced hyperinflation and bank crisis.
According to the Land Registry the hysterical purchases of apartments in the big cities has died away and the drop in the number of purchases in Sofia, Varna, Plovdiv and Pleven has dropped lower than the average for the country. In the capital Sofia this number has dropped below the lever of 2004 when the purchases were 28 837.
The market in the Black Sea resorts and in the agricultural areas of the country is fairing better than in the rest of the country during the recession. In Nessebar on the Black Sea there were 6461 deals in 2009 which is only by 23% lower than in 2008. In Dobrich the drop is even lower. The interest in agricultural land in the area has remained the same.
Comment » | Bulgaria, Property
March 2nd, 2010 — 12:58pm
In the last quarter of 2009 the first signs of activity have appeared on the rental market of office space in Bulgaria. Analysts claim that this was due to the efforts of the owners to stimulate prospective tenants with bonuses like rent free periods and payment of the relocation. The much lower rents of newly built offices proved to be a good incentive for many companies to relocate.
The expectation in 2010 are that the size of the unoccupied office spaces will continue to grow due to the large number of new offices that are expected to be offered on the market. In the last quarter of 2009 new offices with total area of 38 200 sq m entered the market. In 2008 their total area was 65 900 sq m. The largest projects have been planned to be completed in 2010 and thus the expectations are that by the end of the current year the newly finished office space will total 360 000 sq m.
In the end of 2009 the office space in Sofia exceeded 1 million sq m of which 80% were situated on the main boulevards and in the outskirts of the city. The completion of about 460 000 sq m of office space has been delayed or frozen.
The rent was 13.50 EUR/sq m for offices class A in the last months of 2009. The average rent for the same period of 2008 was 17 EUR/sq m. The offices of class B and C are offered at 8 and 4 EUR/sq m respectively. It is expected that these levels will remain the same in 2010.
The yield from first class office space in Sofia stays at 11%.
Comment » | Bulgaria, Property
February 23rd, 2010 — 12:07pm
The number of new buildings in Bulgaria has dropped by 70% on an annual basis. In the last quarter of 2009 the number of the new planning permissions was 1343, while in the same period of 2008 they were 2452, according to the National Statistics Institute. This huge drop has come after 5 years of permanent increase of the number of planning permissions.
The recession in the construction industry has also had its impact on the size of the new apartments – their living area has decreased by 24% only from October to December 2009 in comparison with the previous quarter. Annually the drop has been more drastic – it has exceeded 70%.
The construction of new offices has also suffered. In the last quarter of 2010 only 63 planning permissions have been issued, which is a drop by 25% in comparison with the previous quarter and 37% on an annual basis. Most of the already finished offices are left empty, despite the decrease of the rents.
The price drop of real estates in 2009 is on average by 20% but in some parts of the country it has reached 60%. The real prices at which purchases are made in the Bulgarian capital Sofia are on average 23% lower in comparison with the period 2007 – 2008, i.e. the average price in 2009 was 980 Euros/ sq.m.
The price drop in the other cities has not been so drastic but property prices there have not reached the levels of those in the capital. In Varna, the second Bulgarian city, the price drop in 2009 was of 14%, while in Plovdiv and Burgas (the third and the fourth largest cities) – 15%.
Comment » | Bulgaria
February 22nd, 2010 — 12:09pm
The last quarter of 2009 was the worst one for the Bulgarian economy. According to the National Statistics Institute Bulgaria’s GDP has fallen by 6.2% and it has been 17,858 billion levs (about 8. 5 oo billion Euros). The real annual drop for 2009 was of 5.1% in comparison with 2008. The official forecast of the Bulgarian government made in the autumn of 2009 was for a drop of 6,3% which later has been corrected to 4,9%.
Comment » | Bulgaria, Economy
February 22nd, 2010 — 11:45am
In 2009 the Russians have spent 11.3 billion USD to buy second homes abroad, according to the review of the department for properties abroad of the Russian estate agency DOKI. Properties in Bulgaria are the most popular among Russians and 21% of the clients of the agency have been interested in buying second homes in Bulgaria for the average price of 42 000 Euros. In second place are properties in Spain, where 17% of the clients of DOKI are prepared to pay on average 178 000 Euros. In third place are properties in Turkey at an average price of 50 000 Euros which attracted the interest of 12% of the clients of the Russian agency, closely followed by properties in the USA and Israel.
Another Russian estate agency MIEL – Distant Property Management revealed similar statistics. Again properties in Bulgaria are the most popular ones among Russians, followed by properties in Turkey, Spain and the Ukraine. This estate agency has divided their clients into three groups. The first one consists of young people under the age of 35 who buy studios and one-bedroom apartments in the price range 25 -70 000 Euros. They prefer Bulgaria in first place, followed by Egypt and The Czech Republic.
The second group are married couples at the age of 35 – 45. The look for one- or two-bedroom apartments for the price of 70-80 000 Euros in Monte Negro, Bulgaria, Spain, Germany, Italy and Turkey.
The third group consist of wealthy people above 45 who spend at least 250 000 Euros. They do not have specific preferences about the location of their property.
1 comment » | Bulgaria, Property
