Fri, Feb 10 2012
Investors in Bulgaria's coastal regions are failing to find buyers for their newly-built hotels.
Nearly 30 new hotels were offered for sale over the past year, 24 Chassa daily reported. Only 250 hotels were on sale in southern coastal regions. The hotels are being sold in all stages of construction.
The average price is 856 euro a sq m.
Most of the hotels for sale were in the resorts of Sveti Vlas (St Vlas), Slunchev Bryag (Sunny Beach) and Chernomorets.
Experts said that there was a lack of buyers in these resorts, because the most tourists there were foreigners, who preferred buying apartments in complexes, instead of staying in hotels.
The biggest demand for hotels was in Slunchev Bryag, Nessebar and Primorsko, 24 Chassa said.
To the north, the highest supply of hotels is in Zlatni Pyasutsi (Golden Sands) resort. Average prices were 1000 euro a sq m.
Demand was biggest in Zlatni Pyasutsi, Sveti Konstantin and Slunchev Den (Sunny Day).
Average market prices of homes in Sofia fell by one per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to the same period of 2010, according to the Raiffeisen Real Estate Index, as quoted by Klasa daily.
Proportionately, the number of transactions in leva increased as people reacted to speculation that the euro would disappear.
Nearly all banks are ready to finance between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of the price of a home, provided it is a good building in a large city, Bulgarian daily says.
Property prices in Bulgaria were five to 10 per cent lower in 2011 than in 2010, while initial estimates for this year are that they will remain largely unchanged, with transactions remaining at ‘crisis levels’.
Bulgaria’s capital city Sofia ranks 17th, report says, quoting Global Property Guide.