Fri, Feb 10 2012
Lewis Charles Sofia Property Fund, an investment company focused on the Bulgarian residential property market, has a pipeline of eight residential schemes in Sofia with a combined price tag of more than 45 million euro, the company said in a statement.
The fund's property portfolio has a total build area of 567 590 sq m and currently has a valuation of 83 852 536 euro.
In the Bulgarian capital, the fund is developing gated communities in the Vitosha, Simeonovo and Krastova Vada boroughs. The first project was completed in 2007 while the other five are expected to be completed during 2009. One of these projects is still at the foundation stage.
The build area for the six projects totals 95,382 sq m. The fund also owns a further 13 170 sq m of land in the Sofia borough of Dragalevtsi and 100 713 sq m in Kambanite.
Lewis Charles has projects in progress in various other locations across the country. In 2006, the fund purchased a total of 121 420 sq m of agricultural land just outside the village of Banya (Razlog municipality) for 2.76 million euro. The Banya project is expected to involve the construction of a first-class holiday village consisting of chalets and upmarket apartments.
The portfolio spread further includes projects in Govedartsi, Bansko, Plovdiv, Veliko Turnovo and Dolna Banya.
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.