Dear readers

Bulgaria’s only English-language weekly newspaper, The Sofia Echo, welcomes you to our special supplement, Property Focus.

Bulgaria entered 2006 experiencing a continued boom of its real estate market and a high degree of investment in the sector that has taken it to a new level.

The development of a functioning real estate market is an ingredient vital to the development of the economy of any country such as Bulgaria that is in transition to a market economy.

In fact, the European Commission has already described Bulgaria as having a functioning market economy. However, all Bulgarians know that the end of the transition period will come years after the country joins the European Union, hopefully in 2007. Until this transition ends, the people and the authorities have to devote much more effort to developing the country’s economic and social relations, as well as to develop the real estate market as an important part of the economy.

Bulgaria’s tourism sector, a sector playing a vital role in the development of the property market, has also continued to contribute in recent years. Foreign holidaymakers visiting Bulgaria increased by 4.5 per cent in 2005 as compared to 2004, and of these, 54.2 per cent came from EU countries. Tourism revenues last year were about two billion euro.

This provides many opportunities for investors and property developers in this country to attract many more buyers of real estate from the wealthy Union, but this is also one of the tools for bringing Bulgaria closer to the minds and hearts of Europeans.

National advertising for Bulgaria, as a tourist destination, as a second-home spot, as a place for investing money in an industry - including property development - is a key factor in popularising this country’s real estate.

It is clear now that there is an enormous interest in acquiring property in Bulgaria. This is because of a number of reasons, including the opportunity to have a second home in a country where prices are lower and nature and climate are suitable for any taste, or the possibility to achieve a high yield on the property one buys today and sells tomorrow, among others.

After Bulgaria joins the EU, the country is certain to become even more attractive for property investors. This has already happened in the former communist countries, which joined the EU in 2004. But, a lot more needs to be done by the sector itself in education, training, offering new and better services and others.

The Sofia Echo can only hope that through its Property Focus it would be able to support the popularisation of Bulgaria’s real estate opportunities and assist in improving the standards of a sector vital to the country’s economy.