The investments agency has seen an influx of applications for certificates for first-class property investment projects, the agency's executive director Stoyan Stalev recently told Dnevnik daily. The deadline for such applications is August 30. Stalev said that not all applications would be approved.

Real estate projects have received the largest number of first-class certificates this year - about 12. Half of them are for the construction of trade centers. In comparison, for the period 2004-2006 the agency only issued a total of 30 certificates.

The reason for the increased investor interest in first-class certificate projects is the amendments to the Investment Encouragement Act. From September the State will stop aiding investors, due to the rapid development of this sphere during the past few years. A shopping centre in the northern city of Rousse was one of the latest  projects to receive a first-class certificate. This is a joint project between the municipality of Rousse and the investors, the Bobovski brothers, who built the first shopping centre outside of Sofia, in Veliko Turnovo. Hristo Etropolski from the agency said that there are six other similar projects awaiting a certificate.

Although the official deadline to apply for a first-class certificate is August 30, since August 6 priority has been given to industrial, education, technology and health-care projects applying for first-class status.

To be able to apply for a first-class investor certificate the estimated value of a project must exceed a minimum level - 70 million leva. Those projects estimated at between 40 and 70 million leva qualify for a second-class investment certificate and those whose cost is likely to be between 10 and 40 million leva receive a third-class certificate.

The minimum value of a new investment required for each class of certificate can be halved if the project is  to be built in an underdeveloped regions or in a highly technological sector. Investors that have received a certificate will be able to get shorter administrative terms under the new amendments as well. At present, certain permits are not issued for years, due to red tape, according to Rossen Plevneliev, general manager of Lindner Bulgaria. France's Montupet, one of the first investors to  be awarded a first-class investor certificate, had to wait a year and a half to get a construction permit, Pari daily reported on August 8.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that the trend of the past four years of a steady increase in prices of holiday property at the Black Sea coast has started to decline. Prices over the past three to four years initially increased by 20 to 30 per cent and have even increased by 50 per cent in a year, but this has not been the case in 2007, Investor.bg reported on August 5. The average price of studio flats and two-bedroom summer apartments at investors' favourite resort Sunny Beach dropped by four per cent between July 2006 and July 2007, according to a survey commissioned by Investor.bg. A year ago the average prices for properties in Sunny Beach were 950-985 euro a sq m, and according to specialists, properties are now sold for 800 euro  a sq m.

The trend of falling holiday property prices has been evident in other southern Black Sea resorts in Bulgaria. In Ahtopol, prices of studio flats dropped by five per cent and those of three-bedroom apartments by eight per cent.

However, there are still some areas that are seeing an increase in property prices. The villages of Lozenets and Chernomorets and the Golden Sands resort have seen increases of up to 20 per cent over the past year.

Many investors are looking towards smaller villages even if properties are located further from the coastline.

Investor.bg said that according to specialists in the property field, the bubble has already burst for holiday homes on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast. The trend has now shifted from making profit through renting a property out to selling the flat or house. Investors who bought properties two or three years ago can make money on of selling them now, especially if it is located near a business centre as these are currently one of the most popular types of investment.