Real estate forums held in Bulgaria

Housing units with a total floor area of 2 million square meters will be built in Sofia in 2006, and annual housing sales in the city will total between 17,000 and 18,000 units, National Real Property Association President OrlinVladikov told journalists, BTA reports. Earlier on Friday he opened the European Congress of the International Real Estate Federation and the 12th Conference of the Central European Real Estate Associations Network, held together in the Bulgarian capital. Vladikov said housing measuring 380,000 sq m in floor area, built in Sofia in 2005, remained unsold. Therefore, prices are likely to remain unchanged or to drop for some categories of housing. Nationwide, prices of housing made of prefabricated concrete slabs range between 380 and 500 euros per square meter while an average housing unit will cost between 500 and 900 euros/sq m, and high-end housing exceeds 900 euros/sq m (up to 2,200 euros in Sofia). Deputy Regional Development and Public Works Minister Savin Kovachev said Penal Code amendments are being considered to establish criminal liability for dangerous illegal construction. This will apply both to new construction and to the overhaul of old buildings, and also to cases of mismanagement of buildings, which, Kovachev said, happens sometimes in the pursuit of profit, BTA reports. He recommended to municipal authorities to examine existing buildings and order the demolition of dangerous structures. At national resorts, construction permits should be granted by the Regional Development and Public Works Ministry, and not by the municipalities, Kovachev stressed.

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