the Bulgarian real estate market has entered a period of uncertainty and volatile changes in the past few weeks after the boom in purchasing homes, which started in 2003. The already quite saturated local market for residential properties has seen some negative trends in the prices of homes.
Ending up with one, two or three apartments more than needed, Bulgarians decided to rent them out and this naturally led to decreasing rental prices, especially for flats with two or more bedrooms, which are usually too expensive for most Bulgarians.
Property purchases may slow down in the coming months, due to the rising interest rates on bank loans, as a consequence of the rise in basic rates to 3.83 per cent by Bulgarian National Bank.
Bulgaria's forthcoming accession to the European Union has fired expectations that farmland might become quite valuable at some point in the near future. Naturally, this moved up the otherwise low prices of cultivated and non-cultivated land. A series of newspaper reports in the past few weeks seem to have changed the mind of the owners of rural land, who until quite recently were ready to get rid of their property at whatever price if a buyer showed up. The real estate market in Bulgaria continues to be influenced by the gradually but constantly increasing interest of foreign nationals in acquiring houses, especially in the rural areas in Bulgaria.
Under the title "Bulgaria Beckons", the Daily Telegraph wrote a few weeks ago that British home-buyers are flocking to the latest hotspot of Bulgaria to cash in on cheap property. After a couple was filmed searching for a second house for only 5000 pounds on the British Channel 4's 'A Place in the Sun', the country has been flooded with speculators, investors and those hopeful they will pick up an East European residence for the cost of a new kitchen in the UK.
The story cited an interesting stance on ownership taken from a Bulgarian web-site saying that "It will probably be shocking for you how many . . . properties are still waiting for their proprietor to appear and earn a fortune from their charm or natural beauty . . ." Another offers a solution: "For those feeling uncomfortable at the notion of wrenching houses away from the poorer - and absent - locals, how about paying a 600 pound fee to an agent that 'helps local charities'?" Plenty of retired couples are looking to buy in Bulgaria, principally because of the extremely low cost of living. "Although Bulgaria is on the up, the infrastructure does have a long way to go," the Telegraph said and warned that foreigners expecting sophistication might struggle in areas away from coastal resorts and main cities. Visitors should brace themselves for Soviet concrete-block architecture and piles of rubbish, it said.
Bulgarian realtors however have other problems that have not been spotted by foreign media.
Private real estate agencies have sent a letter to the World Bank (WB), seeking its assistance to accelerate the implementation of a project for the creation of a property register. The project being funded by $30 million from the WB, $6 million from the state budget and a $2 million grant from the Dutch government. The project got underway in 2001 and was due for completion by March 2007.
Realtors complained last week that project delays are causing difficulties for investors and developers. Their appeal came on the heels of a letter issued by the WB itself, warning that the poor rate of the property register's implementation could jeopardise the transition to EU property registration standards and insisting that Bulgaria unify into one authority the existing cadastre and property registration agencies.
The bank demanded a report on the progress of the project and expects the Bulgarian side to solve the existing problems by September 2004. Most of the local real estate firms support the the WB's proposal to merge the cadastre and property registers, arguing that this would halve administrative costs and speed up the process by providing a one-stop customer service.
Ending up with one, two or three apartments more than needed, Bulgarians decided to rent them out and this naturally led to decreasing rental prices, especially for flats with two or more bedrooms, which are usually too expensive for most Bulgarians.
Property purchases may slow down in the coming months, due to the rising interest rates on bank loans, as a consequence of the rise in basic rates to 3.83 per cent by Bulgarian National Bank.
Bulgaria's forthcoming accession to the European Union has fired expectations that farmland might become quite valuable at some point in the near future. Naturally, this moved up the otherwise low prices of cultivated and non-cultivated land. A series of newspaper reports in the past few weeks seem to have changed the mind of the owners of rural land, who until quite recently were ready to get rid of their property at whatever price if a buyer showed up. The real estate market in Bulgaria continues to be influenced by the gradually but constantly increasing interest of foreign nationals in acquiring houses, especially in the rural areas in Bulgaria.
Under the title "Bulgaria Beckons", the Daily Telegraph wrote a few weeks ago that British home-buyers are flocking to the latest hotspot of Bulgaria to cash in on cheap property. After a couple was filmed searching for a second house for only 5000 pounds on the British Channel 4's 'A Place in the Sun', the country has been flooded with speculators, investors and those hopeful they will pick up an East European residence for the cost of a new kitchen in the UK.
The story cited an interesting stance on ownership taken from a Bulgarian web-site saying that "It will probably be shocking for you how many . . . properties are still waiting for their proprietor to appear and earn a fortune from their charm or natural beauty . . ." Another offers a solution: "For those feeling uncomfortable at the notion of wrenching houses away from the poorer - and absent - locals, how about paying a 600 pound fee to an agent that 'helps local charities'?" Plenty of retired couples are looking to buy in Bulgaria, principally because of the extremely low cost of living. "Although Bulgaria is on the up, the infrastructure does have a long way to go," the Telegraph said and warned that foreigners expecting sophistication might struggle in areas away from coastal resorts and main cities. Visitors should brace themselves for Soviet concrete-block architecture and piles of rubbish, it said.
Bulgarian realtors however have other problems that have not been spotted by foreign media.
Private real estate agencies have sent a letter to the World Bank (WB), seeking its assistance to accelerate the implementation of a project for the creation of a property register. The project being funded by $30 million from the WB, $6 million from the state budget and a $2 million grant from the Dutch government. The project got underway in 2001 and was due for completion by March 2007.
Realtors complained last week that project delays are causing difficulties for investors and developers. Their appeal came on the heels of a letter issued by the WB itself, warning that the poor rate of the property register's implementation could jeopardise the transition to EU property registration standards and insisting that Bulgaria unify into one authority the existing cadastre and property registration agencies.
The bank demanded a report on the progress of the project and expects the Bulgarian side to solve the existing problems by September 2004. Most of the local real estate firms support the the WB's proposal to merge the cadastre and property registers, arguing that this would halve administrative costs and speed up the process by providing a one-stop customer service.
