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Who would buy a rural property in the middle of nowhere in Bulgaria? The Brits, that’s who. Our correspondent visits the towns where homebuyers are snapping up houses for £5,000
  
Mihail Chobanov is a young man in a hurry. Juggling two mobile phones and swerving to avoid the odd donkey cart as he guns his Mercedes at more than 100mph along the pitted roads of southeastern Bulgaria, he has little time to reflect on the runaway success of his property business.  

People from UK, Germany and Austria went crazy about buying luxurious properties in Sofia. This information was supplied to “Trud Daily” by local Real Estate Agencies. The apartments’ rush lead to a new rise in the prices and now a sq.m. close to the Doctor’s Garden reached the price of 1400 Euro. A sq.m. of living area in that region of Sofia, which is among the most expensive ones reached the price of 800-1200 Euro/sq.m..
Estate agents explained that the record prices of 1400 Euro/sq.m. are paid for luxury apartments with designer interior, spacious terrace and panoramic views towards Vitosha Mountain. The furnishing includes upholstered furniture, air-conditioning, modern TV set, stereo system and fitted kitchen.

One third of real estate purchases in Bulgaria are supported with bank credits.

It comes to explain the 70-percent boost in mortgage crediting over the previous year and the currently high interest in mortgages.

According to bank experts, Bulgarian mortgage market has extended ten times since 1997, with continuously diversification of clients' needs. In return banks keep on offering more and more specific credit products.

Currently the banks are strongly competing on the crediting market, trying to out do each other in attractive interest rates and shortened procedure of credit approval.

British investors have shown considerable interest in the Bulgarian real estate market.

UK Daily Telegraph reported that British investors' insatiable appetite for property has led them to hunt for bargains in eastern Europe.

The UK newspaper said that demand for property in the region is growing sharply, particularly in countries such as Croatia, Bulgaria and Turkey.

A rise in small housing rents in Bulgaria has been registered since the beginning of 2004. The interest for renting small flats exceeds the number of available flats on the market and owners feel somehow free to raise the rents. Real estate brokers said there had been a tendency for the price of single room flats to reach the price of one bedroom flats. The price of flats with three and more rooms remained stable in the last six months. Generally, renters are not interested in big flats because of the higher electricity and heating expenditure. The highest interest has been registered for small flats of between 45 sq m and 70 sq m. The monthly rents range between 120 euro and 140 euro in the southern areas of Sofia. Rents in downtown Sofia vary between 200 euro and 250 euro. Rise in small housing rents has been also recorded in the other big Bulgarian cities. Renters in Varna, on the northern Black sea coast, are most interested in finding a flat in the districts near the sea. The average monthly rent for a flat of between 50 sq m and 60 sq m ranges from 150 euro to 200 euro.

Europeans would rather become Bulgarians, than vice versa. The research of “Trud Daily” shows that foreigners in large numbers buy realties in our villages, and the greatest part of them is people from Great Britain. The subjects of Her Majesty have already settled in the villages around Elhovo, Tarnovo and Varna. A Japanese family lives in the town of Shipka for years and awaits followers. According to the demography experts, Bulgaria should prepare for a new wave of Bulgarian wannabes after we enter the European Union.
The analysis of the National Statistic Bureau show that in 6-7 years time more foreigners will settle in Bulgaria, than Bulgarians will immigrate abroad.

Foreigners will be able to purchase real estate properties without special licenses from the government. Members of the Parliament Economic Commission voted down on second reading, the text of the Investments Encouragement Law, according to which the foreigners had to ask the cabinet for such a license. Irrelevant became also the requirement for special license from the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Internal Affairs for purchasing real estate properties in the interior areas of the country, close to the national security objects.

The Irish businessmen who arrived in Bulgaria to examine the real estate market in Bulgaria's Black Sea towns of Burgas, Kiten, Primorsko and Lozenetz have been "shocked" by the high prices, Bulgarian 24 Hours daily reported.

The growth of Bulgarian economy since 2001 has outstripped the average rate achieved by other Central and Eastern European countries, the UN Economic Commission for Europe revealed in its annual economic overview for 2004, presented Thursday in Geneva.

Bulgaria, along with Romania, has recorded a steady pace of 4-5 % growth over the last years, accompanied with an ever-increasing interest by foreign investors, the UN report said.

Making an overview of the economic development of Central and Eastern European Countries, the UN Economic Commission has pointed out that Bulgaria is in pursuit of a 5.3 % growth in 2004.

The average price of residential Real estate in Bulgaria's capital by December 2003 stood at EUR 400 per sq.m., according to the latest data from ADIS Real Estate.

The figures reflect a surge in demand on the Bulgarian property market, which is seen in all categories of residential areas. Demand is concentrated primary in the big urban centres and the Black Sea coastline, where it exceeds the supply.