Despite promises of increased transparency and the lure of deep discounts, Bulgarian real estate values are liable to see another 10% decline. December saw a spike in transactions, though, in anticipation of legislation banning cash deals and calling for accuracy in appraisals as part of property disclosure. See the following article from Property Wire  for more on this. Residential properties in Bulgaria could fall by another 10% in the next  [ Read More ]

For last week we have signed up 2 new property management agreement and we have received 2 furnishing inquiries for properties in Nesssebar area. We have also received 6 rentals inquiries for our properties in Bansko area, and 3 for Pamporovo area.

Sales of property to foreigners are down by 99 percent since 2005 Residential tourism came to an almost complete standstill on the Costa del Sol in 2009. The sale of second homes hit its peak in 2005 when some 12,400 homes were sold on the Costa worth 2.3 billion, but last year that was down to almost cero given the recession and the weakness of the pound against the Euro.  [ Read More ]

Travel in several parts of Bulgaria was an unpredictable if not impossible business on the weekend of January 23 and 24 2010 with on-again, off-again blockades at the border with Greece and with heavy snowfalls disrupting motoring in the northern and eastern parts of the country. On the morning of January 24, Bulgaria’s border police said that all checkpoints on the Bulgarian-Greek border were open and traffic was flowing without  [ Read More ]

By decision of the Bulgarian Parliament payments for the purchase of real estates can only be carried out trough banks. German Deutsche Welle questions the efficiency of this measure, reminding that real estate sales concluded with fake documents for identity were very common for Bulgaria, the Duma daily reports. This decision represents one small, cautious step towards improved security in an attempt to counter money laundering and income concealment, Deutsche  [ Read More ]

With the voiding of visa requirements for Serbian, Macedonian and Montenegrin nationals, the Bulgarian mountain resort town of Bansko has seen a “big increase” in tourists from those countries, a welcomed development given the vacuum created by the absence of tourists from traditional markets, website investor.bg reported in January 2010. Serbian, Montenegrin and Macedonian nationals have been able to visit and travel in Bulgaria freely as of December 19 2009.  [ Read More ]

Unseasonably warm weather has hurt the number of tourists that Bulgaria’s winter resort Pamporovo has hoped to attract for new 2010 Season. Most of the tourists that spent New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in Pamporovo have already left the resort, Focus quoted the secretary of a local tourism chamber, Rossen Kefilev, as saying. Most tourists were leaving a day or two early because they could not ski in  [ Read More ]

Bulgaria’s medieval capital Veliko Turnovo, the alpine resort town of Bansko and the spa resorts of Velingrad and Sandanski were the most popular tourist destinations in the country over the winter holidays period. Bansko wrapped up the most vists, which was only natural as the resort also possesses the largest bed capacity with its numerous hotels, Blagoi Ragin from the Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association (BHRA) was quoted as saying.  [ Read More ]

Bulgaria’s tourist industry has recorded a 15 per cent drop in its “seasonal workforce” as a consequence of the global economic downturn, Tsvetan Tonchev, president of the Bulgarian Chamber of Tourism, was quoted as saying by the Bulgarian news agency (BTA) on January 19 2010. In total, about 110 000 people were employed in the industry sector in 2009. In spite of growing unemployment in the sector, the industry still  [ Read More ]

In contrast to the developed world, Bulgaria still keeps the trend where as much as 87% of people’s wealth constitutes of real estate, a UniCredit Bulbank analysis suggests. The bank explains the tendency resulted from Bulgarians’ traditional proneness to investments and savings on the real property market. At the same time, the capital markets in Bulgaria are quite underdeveloped, senior economist Milen Kasabov comments. Sourse: Focus News Agency