The Constitution must be amended to allow foreigners to own land in Bulgaria and improve the domestic investment climate, said Foreign Investment Agency chairman Nikolai Marinov last week.
Marinov’s comments came at the opening of the seventh annual conference of the Central European Real Estate Associations Network (CEREAN), which was held in Sofia on Thursday and Friday.
The conference was attended by 190 Bulgarian and foreign real estate agents. A trade exhibition of companies operating in this sector, the first one to be held in Bulgaria, was organized on the sidelines of the forum.
“This annual CEREAN meeting is held at a moment when the Bulgarian government is focusing its efforts on the creation of a favourable business environment with the potential to attract both external and internal investors,” Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg wrote to the forum. “This event is important for the country, in that it will help incorporate the Bulgarian real estate market into the European market and facilitate the Cabinet’s efforts with regards to strategic priorities, namely the creation of financial and legal conditions to attract foreign capital,” he said.
Data provided by CEREAN President Valeri Leviev at the forum, showed stagnation on Bulgaria’s housing property market due to the low purchasing power of the population. “The country needs a special law on home-purchase loans,” Leviev said.
Housing property is offered at between $300 and $800 per sq.m. in the centre of Sofia and $200 to $500 in the suburbs of the capital, Leviev said. In other parts of the country apartments can be purchased for $70 $100 per sq.m.
There is a growing demand for rented upscale housing at $4-$10 per sq.m. a month. Monthly rents for luxury offices in Sofia and other big cities in Bulgaria have gone up to $20 to $28 per sq.m., and ordinary offices are available in the outskirts for $5 to $10 per sq.m. Leviev also reported a lack of large storage areas of the order of 15-20 ha and a steady demand for commercial sites, for which monthly rents may be as high as $50 per sq.m.
Real estate in Bulgaria will be re-registered under the Cadastre Act within two years. The new act will ensure that all property in Bulgaria is properly registered. “This will be beneficial for the domestic market, provide guarantees for foreign investments and reduce risks for Bulgarian buyers,” said Leviev.
Marinov’s comments came at the opening of the seventh annual conference of the Central European Real Estate Associations Network (CEREAN), which was held in Sofia on Thursday and Friday.
The conference was attended by 190 Bulgarian and foreign real estate agents. A trade exhibition of companies operating in this sector, the first one to be held in Bulgaria, was organized on the sidelines of the forum.
“This annual CEREAN meeting is held at a moment when the Bulgarian government is focusing its efforts on the creation of a favourable business environment with the potential to attract both external and internal investors,” Prime Minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg wrote to the forum. “This event is important for the country, in that it will help incorporate the Bulgarian real estate market into the European market and facilitate the Cabinet’s efforts with regards to strategic priorities, namely the creation of financial and legal conditions to attract foreign capital,” he said.
Data provided by CEREAN President Valeri Leviev at the forum, showed stagnation on Bulgaria’s housing property market due to the low purchasing power of the population. “The country needs a special law on home-purchase loans,” Leviev said.
Housing property is offered at between $300 and $800 per sq.m. in the centre of Sofia and $200 to $500 in the suburbs of the capital, Leviev said. In other parts of the country apartments can be purchased for $70 $100 per sq.m.
There is a growing demand for rented upscale housing at $4-$10 per sq.m. a month. Monthly rents for luxury offices in Sofia and other big cities in Bulgaria have gone up to $20 to $28 per sq.m., and ordinary offices are available in the outskirts for $5 to $10 per sq.m. Leviev also reported a lack of large storage areas of the order of 15-20 ha and a steady demand for commercial sites, for which monthly rents may be as high as $50 per sq.m.
Real estate in Bulgaria will be re-registered under the Cadastre Act within two years. The new act will ensure that all property in Bulgaria is properly registered. “This will be beneficial for the domestic market, provide guarantees for foreign investments and reduce risks for Bulgarian buyers,” said Leviev.
