MultiProperty Service's Blog

Last week in Fitur, Mayoress Ángeles Muñoz announced that the Town Hall of Marbella signed an agreement with Persian Gulf tour operators at the International Tourism Fair (FITUR) held in Madrid. The Mayoress explained that this agreement “will help to promote tourism within the region, taking advantage of the air links between Spain and the Gulf countries that is aiding the flow of tourists. ”

This agreement is similar to the one signed last year with Dubai and reinforces “the excellent relations we have with those countries since for many years Marbella houses many royal homes in the area.”

Muñoz clarified the objective of “continuing to work with different markets” as well as maintaining relations with German and Nordic tour operators and outlining a promotional campaign with Madrid “to serve as reference point to extend to other cities nationwide“.

Muñoz stated that Marbella faces the future with “optimism and the guarantees afforded by the adoption of the new General Plan and the association of the city with sport“and stressed that the General Plan “is essential” for improving tourism and revitalizing the residential segment. On the sporting field Marbella announced that this year will host the cycling races in Spain and Andalusia, the professional tennis tournament on the WTA Tour, Cup of Vela Platú and work is underway to hold the Banesto women’s golf championship .

By: Sofia Flores

Banks might hold the key to what will happen with Bulgaria’s real estate sector in 2010 if they decide to start selling foreclosed properties,  Address, one of Bulgaria’s leading real estate companies told a January 25 news conference.

Together with foreign investors, banks were a major factor in the real estate boom in the previous five years, when banks fought for every customer by bringing down interest rates on loans.

Inevitably, the economic downturn has meant a drop in incomes and led to a rise in non-performing loans as bank clients struggled to meet monthly payments.

For now, banks have been trying to stay away from an overall policy of foreclosing, but if 2010 proves to be a more difficult year than 2009, banks might change this policy and appear on the market as one of the big players.

This, according to property experts, will mean a significant drop in real estate prices. Were this to happen, and banks started selling foreclosed properties in search of quick returns, there was a serious risk that the property market could collapse altogether, Address said.

According to its statistics, prices in 2009 dropped by 28 per cent on an annual basis, with 47 per cent of buyers paying in cash, while 22 per cent of deals were financed with bank loans.

According to data presented by estate agency Colliers on January 20,  the value of real estate was expected to decline by an additional 10 per cent on average by July 2010.
The ongoing drop in value in the first half of the year was expected to be followed by “stabilisation in the market” in the second half, Colliers’ Tatyana Emilova was quoted as saying by Dnevnik daily.

In 2009, real estate prices dropped by about 20 per cent on average nationwide, compared to 2008 figures, according to Colliers data.

For 2010, however, analysts believed that there would be an increase in demand on the market, augmented flexibility, given the lower prices, and investors were said to be “willing to negotiate”.

Address said that if banks managed to hold these defaulted loan properties off the market, the market would soon run out of what customers saw as the most attractive properties.

The most “popular” price-tags for real estate in Sofia and the third largest city in the country, Varna, for the final quarter of 2009 were in the range of about 40 000 euro. About 73 per cent of buyers from both Sofia and Varna said that they were prepared to purchase real estate at that price, if available on offer, Address’ marketing manager Kaloyan Bogdanov said.

In the current market, in Sofia 40 000 euro currently buys a 60 to 70 sq m flat. But because of the declining market, customers were waiting for prices to reach a new low before they made a final decision, Bogdanov said.

Another driving factor in real estate transactions in 2010, according to Address manager Tsvetelina Tasseva, would be so-called “double estate deals” whereby a customer sells a property to finance the purchase of another one.

And while “desirable” homes may be purchased at affordable prices in Sofia and Varna, it was revealed that in spite of the global economic downturn, Varna retained the steepest prices for real estate in 2009.  The Black Sea city was home to the most expensive real estate in 2009, according National Statistics Institute (NSI) made public on January 25.

With real estate values retreating on all fronts across Bulgaria during the year, properties in Varna were offered for a whopping 1686 leva a sq m. Sofia came in second with 1585 leva a sq m, followed by Bourgas with 1360 leva a sq m. Overall, real estate in Bulgaria lost about 20 per cent of its value in 2009, according to the NSI. In the fourth quarter of 2009 alone, levels dropped in 16 municipalities across the country which, given property brokers prognoses, could make 2010 the year of speculative real estate deals.

Source: sofiaecho.com

About 800 Bulgarian, and other European lorries were allowed to pass through the Kulata-Promahon border crossing point after midnight on January 28 2010, Todor Georgiev, head of Border Police told the Bulgarian news agency (BTA).

According to Bulgarian media reports, at the moment, traffic along three out of the four Greek-Bulgarian checkpoints (Kulata, Captain P Voivoda and Zlatograd) is normal.

The blockade, which disrupted trains traveling from Bulgaria to Greece, was lifted at 10pm on January 27 2010. Border Police said that “at the moment trains move freely through the border”.

According to the “schedule” worked out by the protesting farmers, the Ilinden-Exohi checkpoint is going to be shut today from 9am until 9pm for lorries and from 12pm until 5pm for all vehicles.

As the protesters upped the stakes and blocked the railways on January 27, the first victim of the Greek farmers’ blockade was the Sofia-Thessaloniki international train number 361, which usually leaves Sofia at 7am, and train number 636, which was scheduled to leave Sofia at 5.05pm.

Furthermore, international trains linking Bucharest with Thessaloniki only traveled from Bucharest to Sofia.

Passengers with tickets for the suspended trains will be fully reimbursed by BDZ.

Greek farmers have been staging road blockades on the border with Bulgaria for more than a week, but this is the first time they interrupted railway traffic too.

Meanwhile, the Bulgarian mass circulation daily “24 Chassa” said that as a direct result of the blockade, which is in its second week, both Bulgaria and Greece have been hit hard economically, while Turkey has gained from it.

As the Koulata, Ilinden and Captain P Voivoda checkpoints were shut by the farmers, demand on the Turkish market for Greek imports of sea bass and bream have been replaced by Turkish fish. Flower import has also been affected and roses are being imported from The Netherlands.

As a consequence of the economic damages incurred in the region, the European Commission (EC) has said that it could implement punitive measures against Athens in the wake of the deteriorating situation on the Greek-Bulgarian border caused by the Greek farmers’ blockade, Bulgarian media reported on January 27 2010.

“The Greek government has violated European legislature by not providing Bulgaria and the European Commission with a timely warning for the blockade. Greece had an obligation to provide alternative routes for the freight of goods, which is not the case,” Jonathan Todd, spokesperson for the commission was quoted as saying.

“The EC could launch penal proceedings, but the decision will be made only after all facts become available,” said Todd.

Source: sofiaecho.com

Bansko sees a moderate fall of snow in the next couple of days /more particularly 28th of January 2010 and 1st of February 2010/. Therefore, the heaviest snowfall is expected on the 29th of January 2010 during the night. It will be raining on the 30th of January. Light snow is expected on the 30th of January during the night. Temperatures will be below freezing (max -2°C on the 30th of January 2010, min -11°C on 28th of January). Fortunately, the wind will be generally light and it is not expected to strengthen throughout the covered period. Heaviest snow showers are due to occur on the 31st of January 2010 and 2nd of February 2010.
The maximum temperature will vary in the range of -8 and -4 degrees Celsius. Don’t forget to dress in warm clothes.

Source: bulgaria-hotels.com

TOURIST numbers fell by 8.7 per cent in Spain in 2009 as a result of the recession – a drop four times that of 2008, which was the first year in which holidaymaker figures had fallen for many years.

But the country still saw 52.2 million foreigners travelling over to spend their holidays, according to research by the ministry of industry, tourism and commerce.

British citizens remain top of the list for Spain’s largest number of foreign holidaymakers, although numbers fell from 15.5 million in 2008 to 13.3 million in 2009.

German tourists, the second-largest national group, accounted for nine million – a fall of 11.3 per cent on the year before and France represented eight million of Spain’s international holidaymakers, a drop of 2.9 on the 2008′s figures.

The average holidaymaker spent 922 euros on their trip to Spain, including accommodation, food and souvenirs – some 6.8 per cent less than the previous year.

More than 50 per cent of Spain’s tourism figures last year was made up of people travelling from other parts of the country, rather than abroad.

This year, the central government is set to hand over 72 million euros to the regional governments of the Comunidad Valenciana, Andalucía, the Balearic and Canary Islands in order for them to improve infrastructure and facilities to promote both tourism and employment.

By: thinkSPAIN

Recovery in the Spanish property market is directly linked to the recovery of the country’s economy, but as Spain fails to shrug off the world recession, one of Spain’s leading appraisal companies is forecasting a difficult year ahead. Unemployment is expected to rise, and threats of EU sanctions against the country in respect of illegal land seizures and property demolition, are adding to the chains that hold Spain back from market recovery. Experts believe that the best that can be hoped for in 2010 is that the fall in property prices in Spain continues to stabilize as it has done so for the last quarter. Spain has a high profile in the EU right now, as the country’s president Mr Zapatero heads the presidency. But this draws all kinds of unwanted, although necessary, attention as many see the need for a drastic change in Spain’s economic approach. It seems that for the time being those selling a property in Spain are likely to continue to struggle, whilst investors can pick and choose over some fantastic deals even now.

Source: propertyworld.com

The tourists visiting Morocco are up by 6% in October when compared to same period last year and a total of 7 million tourists visited Morocco in the year to October.

According to the Moroccan tourism authorities, The French came first with 2.6 million, followed by Spaniards (1.5 million), Belgians (398,000), Germans (358,000) and Brits (297,000). The rise had no impact on the number of overnight stays which slipped by 2%, due to the decrease posted by the French market (-5%) and the British (-18%), which represent 81% of the drop. As for the Spanish and Arab markets, they showed a rise of 3% and 4% respectively.

Tourism Minister Mohamed Boussaid told Morocco’s second national TV channel (2M) that Morocco has been able to shun the crisis thanks to the quality and the diversity of its product and the promotion of domestic demand.

“Investment dynamics and investors’ confidence in Morocco’s tourism show that the sector can further develop,” Mr.Boussaid added. With tourism and development at the top of its agenda, Morocco has embarked on a series of ambitious plans to attract investment and stimulate its economy. The expansion of tourism offers huge investment opportunities, and particular opportunities have opened up in holiday accommodations in main tourist destinations.

Source: estatesmorocco.com

Bulgaria was battered by extreme weather conditions over the past 24 hours, with temperatures reportedly plummeting to a record -32C in the north east.

Dobrich saw the mercury dip down to -26C while 17 other municipalities across Bulgaria reported that temperatures went below -23C. In some towns in the north of the country, Pleven, Rousse and Elhovo, temperatures dropped to their lowest since 1933, Dnevnik daily reported on January 26 2010.

The seaside town of Kaliakra reported -18.8C and negative temperatures prevailed along the entire coast, while Sofia fell to -15C.

The lowest temperature in Bulgaria since data became available (although certainly not the lowest ever) was back in 1947 when the thermometer showed -38.3C in the village of Trun.

The forecast for January 26 is one of serene skies and predominant sunshine across the entire country, although fog and reduced visibility will form along most of the Danube Valley. Temperatures in the north of Bulgaria will remain in the -12C to -15C range during the day while in the south from -5C to about -10C, the Bulgarian Meteorological Service reported on its website.

Conditions for mountaineering and skiing should be good because the forecast predicts serene skies and mild to moderate easterly winds.

Source:   sofiaecho.com