Fri, Feb 10 2012
Arco Invest Ltd, the Bulgarian subsidiary of Tallinn Stock Exchange-listed Arco Vara, has contracted construction company Glavbolgarstroy-Sofia Jsc to build the second stage of a mixed residential-commercial complex on Sofia's Madrid Boulevard.
Arco Invest will pay Glavbolgarstroy 3.1 million euro for the works, which will include also doing the building's interior.
The Estonian company bought the Madrid project with all required permits on August 2 2007 and said it would invest 20 million euro in a mixed residential-commercial complex with a total built-up area of 24 700 sq m. It was due to be completed in the autumn of 2009.
Arco Vara is a leading real estate developer in the Baltic region, which has begun expanding to central and eastern Europe. The company owns projects in Bulgaria, Ukraine and Romania. The company's consolidated revenues for the first nine months of 2007 stood at 44 million euro and its net profit amounted to 17 million euro.
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.