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.

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%.

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%.

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.

In 2009, 42% of the buyers paid in cash and 37% of the sellers had financial difficulties, not necessary inability to pay their mortgages or bad credits. In 2009 most of the buyers bought newly built properties and only 12 % of them have bought prefabricated apartments. The most active buyers were between 26 and 35 years of age.

The situation is similar concerning office space. In the third quarter of this year the index of the average prices of offices, warehouses and shops has dropped by 26 on an annual basis. The market price of office space has reached its peak in the last quarter of 2008.

In Plovdiv the average property prices are close to the those at the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008. Their peak similarly to Sofia was again in the third quarter of 2008.

The situation in the rentals of office space is similar. Prices have dropped to the levels of 2006  – 12 euros per square metre. The empty office spaces in the central parts of the capital were 13.4% in June 2009 while in the outskirts this figure has reached 19.6%.

Latest figures suggest that old favourites France and Spain are regaining their popularity with buyers of holiday homes. But the picture is not so positive for investors wanting a sizeable return on their purchases, with some former European hotspots now looking decidedly chilly.

According to overseas mortgage firm Conti, 31 per cent of the enquiries it has received so far this year have been about property in France, while more than a fifth were about Spain. Clare Nessling, director at Conti, says buyers are sticking to areas they know and trust, and turning their backs on more adventurous territories such as Bulgaria, Turkey and Dubai.

Spain is maintaining its popularity with UK holiday home buyers as prices have fallen heavily due to an oversupply of properties on the market. In some cases, prices in the Costa del Sol have plummeted by 40 per cent since the peak in 2006/7.

That means for those who have always dreamed of buying a place in the sun but been put off by the cost, now is the time to take a look.

The glut of properties on the Spanish market has led one UK firm to launch a service specifically to try and find buyers for “distressed” properties, typically repossessions, probate or part-exchanged properties.

The online property company, whitehotproperty.co.uk, is currently marketing around 4,000 distressed properties in the popular tourist destinations with – in some cases – sizeable discounts. In one example, a four-bed, two-bathroom duplex apartment in Torrevieja has been reduced to €118.400 (£102,068), a 27 per cent discount on the original asking price.

Similarly, a three-bedroom villa with a pool in a tourist hotspot such as the Costas can be bought for €400,000. It would have cost around €650,000 at the height of the market three years ago.

Stuart Law, chief executive of international property investment firm Assetz, puts the British homebuyers’ continued interest in Spain down to its proximity to the UK, its sunny climate and an abundance of sandy beaches.

The addition of relatively low property prices means Brits are in a good position to buy in Spain – so long as they don’t expect investor-grade price rises. With supply outstripping demand, the situation is unattractive to the professional property developer reliant on solid returns over a relatively short period.

Law says: “Spain is a very difficult place to be buying from an investment point of view, particularly if you are keen on covering all of your costs with rent. Oversupply is impacting the rental market and the exchange rate isn’t helping.

“If someone has set their mind on a holiday home that they are not going to rent out then Spain is ideal, and the very problem that would cause an issue to an investor is what is helping push prices down. There is massive choice, and also some very good pricing.”

However, although Spain may have plenty of appeal, the European continental property market as a whole has not yet recovered. The Netherlands, Denmark, Slovenia and Slovakia have all seen double-digit house price falls over the second quarter of the year.

But the leading horror story is Bulgaria. The former hotspot in the Balkans is now a no-go area for lenders and buyers alike, with its land registry data showing that real estate transactions crashed by 35 per cent year-on-year in the first half of 2009.

Land prices in the previously fashionable Black Sea area fell by an average of 40 per cent in the first eight months of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, according to the International Real Estate Federation in Bulgaria. All of Bulgaria’s major cities and seaside resorts, including Sofia, Varna and Samokov, as well as winter resort Borovets, reported falls in the region of 50 per cent over the same period.

Stuart Law cautions Brits to avoid Bulgaria at all costs. He says: “It’s just horrific; where is the bottom of the market? Our question has always been ‘why would you bother?’ There are so many better places, either closer, nicer or just as cheap. Comparing Spain to Bulgaria… there really isn’t any choice. Spain ticks almost every box and is much closer and easier?”

He suggests that if potential holiday homebuyers want to go further afield, they should consider the US, where some bargains can be found. “Anybody who has ever aspired to own a holiday home in Florida and hasn’t looked recently is going to be genuinely shocked by what they could get. We’ve seen Orlando townhouses in prime resorts at €50,000-€70,000.”

One reason that many are avoiding Europe at the moment is the state of the pound. Over the past two years there has been unprecedented volatility in the currency markets, with the value of sterling fluctuating by over 30 per cent against the euro. The pound currently buys around €1.1, with many currency analysts predicting that parity will occur very soon.

Stephen Hughes, a director of Foreign Currency Direct, fears that sterling is “collapsing”. He argues that currency traders are agreeing on one thing: “sterling is likely to fall fast and far.”

With further falls probable, what should existing or potential European homebuyers do to protect themselves? Mark Bodega, a director at currency broker HiFX, recommends that people looking to buy abroad should consider a “forward contact”. “This allows you to buy currency now and pay for it later,” he explains. “You will need to pay a 10 per cent deposit now and the 90 per cent balance upon the maturity of the contract, but it allows clients to lock into an exchange rate for up to a year.”

Julian Cunningham, from international estate agents Knight Frank, advises British sellers on the continent to reduce their asking prices. He says: “The savvy vendor is passing on any currency gain to the potential buyer in the form of a reduced asking price. But without passing on a certain percentage of that gain to the potential purchaser, it makes it a lot more difficult to do the deal.”

Holiday home heaven: Why France remains number one

It’s not difficult to see why France remains the most popular choice for Brits. Easily accessible by road, rail and air, potential buyers are not solely at the mercy of budget airlines. House prices have remained resilient in France compared to the UK, and mortgage funding is largely more attractive, too.

Nessling says: “In France, lenders have always been a little more cautious. They certainly haven’t taken the extreme view that most UK lenders did. Throughout the credit crunch we’ve still been able to get 100 per cent mortgages in France for loans over €250,000.”

More than four-fifths of mortgages in France are fixed and the majority of all new mortgages are fixed for at least one year. This lending strategy is another reason why the French property market is, on the whole, performing better than in Britain.

Despite a period of house-price falls in the country last year, prices in France actually increased by 3.9 per cent in the second quarter of this year, according to the French National Association of Real Estate Agents.

Stuart Law, chief executive of international property investment firm Assetz, agrees that mortgage lenders in France have kept their criteria largely unchanged, arguing that because they lend based on affordability, an unsustainable boom in prices in France has been prevented. He says: “In the South of France prices have barely wobbled as banks do not think they have substantial risk there.”

Newly built apartments sell for 390 Euros per sq m. In Sunny Beach there are completed apartments for sale for 20-30 000 Euros, which is below their value.

Properties in the big cities like Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna and Burgas have dropped their prices by 30%.

Some analysts claim that the buyers now come mostly from Russia and the former Soviet republics and that there is no recession on the property market in Bulgaria but just restructuring. The quality properties keep their prices while the low quality ones sell at their real price which is a positive tendency, according to them. The Russians mostly buy luxury properties on the northern Black Sea coast at prices exceeding 250 000 Euros. The interest towards mountain resorts has decreased.

A new public institution will be set up in Bulgaria to manage and control amounts from all real estate transactions in an effort to bring them into the light and crack down on money laundering in the industry.

The new Deposit and Consignation Fund will be inaugurated by special legislation hammered out by the Ministry of Justice and the Notary Chamber.

The institution will be a state-owned enterprise and not a bank and will be modelled on a system already operational in France, said Notary Chamber head Dimitar Tanev. Under the scheme, the sellers will receive their money with a short delay but it will ensure transparency and security to all loyal parties as well as central and local authorities.

The system will see buyers transfer the money into the fund where it will spent two or three weeks before it is passed on the seller. The period will be used to check up the resource’ origin and charge all dues of the government and municipalities. It is expected to put an end to sham transactions and block cash payment as money will have to be put into the fund by a bank transfer, Tanev explained.

Market values in the different regions will be determined by experts and updated every three or four months. The price will serve as a reference point for actual property transactions to make sure money laundering and tax evasion is prevented. A difference within 10-15% could be assumed thanks to property improvements but current differences topping out at between 300% and 1000% will be impossible, Tanev said.

The Notary Chamber discussed the proposal with representatives of the European anti-fraud office OLAF, who said the project will indicate the country’s commitment to combat abuse and money laundering.

The slowing down of the economies of Bulgaria’s major trading partners has led to shrinking of Bulgaria’s export. The export of goods has decreased by 30,7% in the first five months of this year and it is expected that the decrease will be 10,5% on an annual basis. This has its effect on the transport and freight. As result the total volume of the export will shrink by 12,3%. The limited crediting and the slow increase of the personal incomes has led to a decrease in the investments and the sales in the country itself. The expectations are that in 2009 the spending of the average household will shrink by 4.5% and of the government by 3%.

In the following years the domestic demand, which has been generating mostly by the foreign investments, will be hard to resume the growth of the  Bulgarian economy to the levels of the last years.  That is why the recuperation of the economy is expected to materialise through the export. Having in mind the current world wide tendencies, this will not happen in 2010.  To the contrary, the export will continue decreasing and the expectations are that it will shrink by 3,8% next year.  That is why the forecast is for economic decrease of 1% in 2010. This will be accompanied by relatively low inflation about 2,2%.

Among the frozen projects in Sofia are Euro Park for 500 million Euros, Sofia Acropolis for 500 million Euros, Tsarigradski Mall (35 million Euros) and GLS Mall. In the country the largest frozen projects are Grand Gallery in Burgas for 35 million Euros, Litos Ibuild in Pazardjik and two shopping malls in Kazanluk.

At the same time GTC has delayed the completion of its three Gallery projects in  Russe and Burgas by 6 months, and in Varna by 4 months.

Since the beginning of the year two bid shopping malls have been completed – Mall Plovdiv and Burgas Plazza with rental area respectively of 20 000 sq m and 26 000 sq m. With them the total area of all shopping centres in Bulgaria has reached 233 460 sq m, an increase by 25% in comparison with the end of 2008. At the end of June 2009 there are 31 sq m of retail space per 1000 people, while in 2008 it was 25 sq m.

At the same time the average decrease of the purchase price of the commercial properties in Bulgaria in the first half of 2009 is of 6.71%. There is also a decrease of the rent of 18% on average for the country. The highest decrease both in purchase prices and in rents is in Sofia and the big seaside towns. The rents in the shopping centres in Sofia have fallen by 25% and vary from 12 to 45 Euros per sq m. The analysts expect a further decrease by 15% by the end of 2009.

At the moment 20% of the hotels in Bulgaria are closed and at least 5% of them are not viable from a business point of view in terms of position, size, materials and type. If these hotels are not restructured within the next few months, one year the most, they will continue incurring loss.

Experts say that the solutions for such kind of hotels is to turn them into hospitals, hospices, old people homes and even jails, children’s camps, business centres or apartment buildings and to sell them. Still it is early to say that there is such kind of tendency in Bulgaria. At the moment there are more than 700 hotels and apartment complexes for sale in the whole of the country.

This negative tendency will affect a great part of the many apartment  complexes in the next three years.  Some analysts think that a possible solution to the problem is to introduce the necessary legislation which will allow timeshare in Bulgaria. The purchase of a holiday home or apartment is not profitable at the moment because of the high prices and the fact that it is usually used for about a month per year, according to experts.

The number of purchases of property in Bulgaria has decreased sharply according to analysts. In the first six months of 2009 in comparison with the same period of last year the number of property purchases has decreased on average by 42% for the country as a whole and by 58% for the capital Sofia, based on the information provided by the National Statistics Institute. The volumes of the current market are similar to the ones in 2005.

The tendencies which started in the last quarter of 2008 continued and even deepened in the first half of 2009.  The buyers are currently waiting to see which way the market will go.  Only those who can see a long-term profit risk  buy now. Apart from the planned expansion of the big retail chains which started in the beginning of 2009, there has not been a single purchase of land for a big project.  The prices of apartments have dropped by 9,7 % only in the first quarter of this year according to the National Statistics Institute. The average price for the country in the second quarter of 2009 is 1074,98 levs/sq m. The highest property prices are in Varna – 1827 levs/sq m, followed by Sofia – 1745 levs/sq m and Burgas – 1471,67 levs/sq m. The lowest price is in Kiustendil – 540, 85 levs/sq m.

The purchase prices of properties drop faster than the rents and returns are becoming higher. The reason for this is  on the one hand the crisis in finding financing for a property purchase and on the other the fact that many prospective buyers stay as tenants and thus keep rents high.

The most significant price decrease in the capital Sofia where the prices of newly built developments in the area of Obelya have dropped by more than 40%. The lowest price drop is in Student Town – by only 10%. In the affluent Lozenets and Iztok where the price exceeded 2000 Euros/sq m in 2008,  now there is a decrease by 1/3. The decrease is similar in Liulin and Ovcha Kupel. In the down-market Banishora the lowest price of newly built apartments is 390 Euros/ sq m.  The lowest prices are in the southern and the eastern parts of the city because there many apartments have been bought off-plan as investment and now they have been completed and put on the market.

In the first half of this year buyers preferred mostly one-bedroom apartments not exceeding 50 000 Euros per sq m.  In the last month two of every ten buyers have purchased in the end a bigger and more expensive apartment than planned in the beginning due to the lower prices.  The number of owners who sell their property to buy a bigger one has increased, as the difference in the price is lower than ever.

In most cases buyers used their savings for the purchase of a property, while 44% of them have taken small mortgages or even consumer loans. 32% of the buyers who took mortgages have problems repaying them regularly but only 17% of them cannot repay their mortgage at all.

Village houses with big yards sell even under their value around Veliko Turnovo, Pernik, Sliven, Haskovo and Yambol, as owners just want to get rid of them. In smaller towns the purchase of property is rarely for the purpose of investment but mainly it is in case of change of the marital status and the recession is felt stronger on the property market. Unemployment is growing faster and first time buyers are very cautious.

In comparison to the south, the properties on the Bulgarian northern coast have always been more expensive. However, the tendency there is exactly the opposite – the prices of houses have decreased and now they vary from 300 to 730 Euros/sq m. The highest price drop is in Kichevo where last year the choice of houses for sale was twice greater than now and the average price was 764 Euros/sq m.  Now, the average price is 593 Euros/sq m.  In other places like Shkorpilovtsy the number of the properties for sale in June 2008 is exactly the same as in June 2009, but the price has dropped by 14% to 593 Euros/sq m.

In general, the analysts think that the prices of houses on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast will not drop too much as their number is limited and already their price is lower than the one of the apartments in the newly built developments.

The highest number of hotels are located in Golden Sands – 17. In St Konstantin and Elena there are 15, in Alen Mak -11 and in Evxinograd  there are 8, while in Journalist – 5. There are some hotels for sale in Sunny Day, Trakata, Manastirski Rid, Borovets and Priboy, as well as in Priseltsy, Byala and Shkorpilovtsy.

So far this year apartment prices have slumped by 10% on average and the highest drop is of apartments in prefabricated blocks from the days of socialism – 12%.  The lowest drop is of finished new properties – by only 4%.

The highest decrease of the property prices in Sofia has been in the top notch areas of the Doctor’s Garden (by 33%) and in Ivan Vazov (by 17%)

Many new construction projects situated beyond the ring road of Sofia and in Manastirski Livadi have been put on hold due to the recession. At the moment all off-plan purchases have stopped.

The construction of two new shopping malls in Sofia have been stopped – Europe Mall and the Mall of the Spanish company Riofisa. Currently the rent of commercial space in shopping malls have fallen to 41 EUR/ sq m while in the central boulevards of Sofia it is 100 EUR/sq m. Big retail chains – Billa, Carrefour, Kaufland and Piccadilly – have taken advantage of this situation and have opened new shops. Analysts think that the rents will not go up before the shops start making much higher turnover.

In the first half of 2009 the rental space in shopping malls have increased by 50 000 sq m and have reached 220 000 sq m in total.  This is the reason why it is more and more difficult for their owners to find tenants for all empty spaces. In Sofia the situation is better and there almost no malls with empty shops. However in the country the situation is different. Retail centres with good location have 3% of their space free, while the others have more than 10% of their space empty.

Concerning office space, 13.4% of it in the central parts of Sofia and 20% of it in the outskirts of the city have been empty. In the central parts of the city prices are still high but in the greater center of Sofia the prices have fallen by 1.5 EUR/ sq m. In the outskirts this decrease has reached 12 EUR/ sq m or the levels of 2006.

According to specialists the freight forwarding and logistic centres and warehouses have been doing better than any other properties in the country. Their rents are the same as last year due to the fact that these properties have developed later than all other types and currently there is a demand for logistics’ space.

Bulgaria has attracted 24 billion Euros in foreign direct investment since 2005, when the Socialist-led
government came to power, but the global crisis has hit the flows and put an end to the credit-fueled economic boom.

Economists say Bulgaria is now paying the price for not using the boom to boost productivity and encourage exports. Here are capital flows went and some major investments since 2005: (in million euros)

                       2005      2006      2007      2008      2005-08
 REAL ESTATE DEALS     533.8     1,778.0   2,505.1   1,900.3   6,717.2
 FINANCIAL SERVICES    667.3     799.4     2,112.5   1,485.9   5,065.1
 PROCESSING INDUSTRY   868.2     1,064.7   906.2     810.9     3,650.0
 RETAIL                576.9     964.5     1,237.4   796.9     3,575.7
 CONSTRUCTION          171.6     501.0     797.4     465.0     1,935.0
 ENERGY                308.5     352.4     332.5     176.2     1,169.6

AES

U.S. energy company AES.N in 2006 launched construction of a $1.4 billion coal-fired power plant, the largest investment in Bulgaria since the fall of communism in 1989. AES is also building a 270 million euro wind park.

ENEL

In 2003, Italian utility ENEI.MI started a 700 million overhaul of Bulgaria’s thermal power plant Maritsa East Three, which was completed earlier this year. Enel holds a 73 percent stake in the coal-fired plant.

AURUBIS

Germany’s copper producer NAFG.DE has invested 80 million euros since 2006 in its plant in the town of Pirdop, the second biggest in the group.

The smelter was initially owned by Belgium’s Cumerio which was taken over by Norddeutsche Affinerie in 2008. The new group then changed its name to Aurubis to reflect the expansion.

GREAT WALL

China’s largest sport utility vehicle maker, Great Wall Motor Co, has started building an 80 million euro car
plant in a joint venture with Bulgaria’s Litex.

Litex said investment in the project, which will employ some 1,300 people, would reach a total of 300 million euros at a later stage.

KBC

In 2007, Belgian banking and insurance group KBC KBC.BR acquired 75 percent of Bulgaria’s EIBank, ninth-largest bank in
terms of assets in the country at the time, in a 295 million euro deal.

ALLIED IRISH BANKS

Allied Irish Banks ALBK.I bought 49.99 percent of specialist business lender Bulgarian-American Credit Bank (BACB)
for 216 million euros in 2008.

OMAN FUND

The Oman State General Reserve Fund, which is one of the key investment institutions of the government of the Sultan of Oman, paid 185.4 million levs for a 30 percent stake in Bulgaria’s Corporate Commercial Bank earlier this year.

59.8 billion levs  have been held in Bulgarian banks in May 2009 which is a decrease by 437 levs, according to the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB). This is the second most serious decrease of the amount of money in the Bulgarian banks since the beginning of the year. This is mainly due to the fact that the amounts which foreign banks and other foreign credit institutions keep in Bulgaria have decreased by 390 million levs in May 2009.  Despite this the amount which they keep here is not small – 15.4 billion levs.

In comparison   personal savings total 22.8 billion levs and the total of the funds of companies in Bulgarian banks is 19 billion levs.  The personal savings have decreased by 100 million levs despite the attracting interest rates of savings. The total amount of the  money in companies’ accounts has slightly increased.

From January 2009 the level of the  money in the accounts held at the Bulgarian banks tend to fluctuate both ways on almost permanent  basis.  The most significant withdrawals took place in January and in May.  In January about 800 million levs have been withdrawn, 500 million levs of them were withdrawn by foreign banks. The Bulgarian companies withdrew 600 million levs but personal savings increased by 340 million levs.

The personal accounts have a positive balance while the companys’ accounts are in the red.  In May individuals held 22.8 billion levs in their accounts while they had credits amassing to 17.7 billion levs. The companies at the same time held 19 billion levs into their accounts but they owe the banks 32 billion levs.  On the whole the Bulgarian banking system is one of the few in the EU which is profitable. Its profit in the end of May 2009 was 402 billion levs. The liquidity index is 20.6% which means that 20% of the attracted funds in the banks can be immediately paid in cash if requested.

The office rental market follows the economic situation in Bulgaria. However, according to analysts, the future tendencies will depend to a great extend on the investors. An investor who has already rented 60% of the building before its completion is less likely to accept lower rent than the investor with an empty building. Additionally, it is important how many projects an investor has and whether they are profitable. Last but not least, offices with good location and effective use of the space, with enough of parking space and with access to the necessary technology are unlikely to rent for less.

In the first half of 2009 the prices of properties for sale in the country have decreased by 5.95% on average while the rents have decreased by 6.59%, according to the official statistic. From December to May the prices of properties have fallen by 10% in Sofia, by 6.13% in Varna and by 10.25% in Burgas. The most insignificant price drop was in Blagoevgrad – 0.67%.

Most of the deals, however,  were at 20% lower prices than the advertised prices.  The number of purchases from January to March 2009 was 35 433 which is by 37.27% less than in the same period of 2008 when there were 56 483 purchases.  Some analysts expect the number of the purchases to fall by 50% on annual bassis.

In this year due to the limited mortgage lending 70% of the sales were financed by personal savings while in 2008 not less than 80% of the properties were purchases with mortgages.