06.02.2009 BULGARIAN PROPERTIES Comment Bulgaria's Property Market on Croatian National Television

BULGARIAN PROPERTIES Head Office

Croatian National Television HRT (Hrvatska radiotelevizija) sought the expert opinion of BULGARIAN PROPERTIES – the company with the widest experience in selling properties to foreigners in Bulgaria. On February 2nd BULGARIAN PROPERTIES’ Operations Manager Polina Stoykova commented on the HRT program Otvoreno the effect of the property market boom, which was the result of property deals with foreigners, had in Bulgaria.

The interest toward Bulgaria’s experience came as a result of the new law that came into force in Croatia according to which foreigners are now allowed to purchase properties in the country. The law came into effect in the beginning of February, before the country’s accession to the European Union. Before that there was a restrictive regime regarding property deals with foreigners in the country.

Polina Stoykova explained that with regard to real estate limitations nothing changed after Bulgaria’s accession to the EU – foreigners are still not allowed to buy land as natural persons. Foreign buyers can buy apartments but this was allowed prior to Bulgaria’s becoming an EU member as well.

The Croatian community was interested in finding out the average prices of properties along the Black Sea coast and in the capital Sofia and how they have changed in the last few years. According to the data of BULGARIAN PROPERTIES in the last 4-5 years property prices increased by about 30% a year as according to the company’s 2008 annual report the average price of concluded deals with houses close to the sea is 30,000 Euro and with apartments in Sofia – 96,200 Euro. Prices of apartments in the seaside resorts vary quite a lot – from 500 to 2,500 Euro per square meter. Croatian specialists commented that these prices are quite low and attractive despite the boom in the property sector as Croatian real estate was a lot more expensive even before the liberalization of the law.

On the question what nationalities make up the majority of property buyers in Bulgaria in the last few years Polina Stoykova replied explicitly that it was the English and Irish as lately Bulgaria was becoming a popular destination with Eastern Europeans as well.

In conclusion, Ms. Stoykova commented on how this process has affected Bulgaria and explained that the overall effect was positive – the boom in the building industry and in the ones related to it which has contributed to the country’s general economic growth in the last few years and in a social aspect the effects are the numerous renovated houses, the new culture brought by the foreign buyers and settlers, the development of the local economies, the higher employment rate in the villages and towns which foreigners have chosen as their second homes.

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