Bruno Crosby: Bulgaria Needs Transparency of Real Estate Market

www.novinite.com, 12th October 2006

Bruno Crosby is the Secretary General of FIABCI, the International Real Estate Federation.

Q: Why did you choose Sofia to host this event?
A: We chose Sofia for a several reasons. First, we have this sister organization, the Central European Real Estate Association Network /CEREAN/. FIABCI and CEREAN have been trying for a long time to organize and hold their events together. The second reason is that Bulgaria's National Real Property Association /NRPA/ is a member both of CEREAN and FIABCI. Third comes the fact that Bulgaria has a fast growing real estate market, prices are reasonable and attractive to foreign investors.

Q: What are the advantages and disadvantages of the Bulgarian real estate market?
A: The advantages are the good prices and the diversity of the offered real estates - office premises, apartments, trading areas... There are many inquiries from North Europe for houses in the south part of the continent. For this reason Bulgaria is attractive for regular people as well as for investors.

Q: What professional standards should Bulgaria have?
A: Real estate agencies and people who work in this filed should guarantee the quality if the offered services. They also have to guarantee the origin of the property. The cadastre should function perfectly but this will only happen if a perfectly functioning judiciary and legislative system is available. If the last two are not properly working, no foreigner would want to invest in Bulgarian real estate properties. There should also be transparency and professionalism in the business relations of the real estate agencies. People should know how much brokerage they will pay and who will pay it to whom. Everything that happens in the financial part of the deal should be transparent and clear.Bulgaria needs transparency of its real estate market.

Q: What will happen with the real estate market after Bulgaria's EU accession?
A: I believe the forthcoming accession will bring and increase in foreign investments here. Yet I must say there may or may not be a change of prices. In the last few years FIABCI observed a rise in the real estates prices in France, Spain and the United Kingdom, while in Germany prices stay the same. It is very difficult to tell what will happen on the Bulgarian market. Inquiries of real estate in Europe are different for every country. As I already told you there is a trend in North Europe for buying houses in the south part of the continent because people want to live in a place with a favorable climate after they retire from work.


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