News

RECENT estimates show that real estate prices in Bulgaria are continuing to grow, having increased by 24.8 per cent in the period January 2004 to January 2005.
This can be seen in the most recent value of the real estate price index REMI. The index stood at 152.8 points in January 2005, or by 9.4 points higher than in October 2004. This corresponds to a 6.6 per cent price increase for that period.
The index is formed by the prices of residential property, commercial property and land. Residential real estate deals totalled about 66 per cent of all property deals in Bulgaria for November 2004 – January 2005.

It’s pure luxury, after a 10 km drive from Sofia you are in winter wonderland, a.k.a. Vitosha Mountain.
On one cold Sunday afternoon I decided to make my way up, and see for myself. Slowly but surely the car made its way through Dragalevtsi, up the mountain. The road going up was covered in a mixture of snow and sand. Now and again I had to bite my lip, when the car decided to slip a little now and again in the curves. Just when I thought that the only convenient and probably secure way to make it up the mountain is in a Jeep-like vehicle, I saw an old Moskvich happily passing us by. Maybe I was wrong. The higher we went, the rougher the weather got. It was extremely windy, which caused snow hazes to whirl around. On the way I saw a stray snowboarder coming out of the bushes. Maybe he got lost somehow. There were few hotels scattered around, but they didn’t seem very impressive to me. I was heading for Aleko, almost the top of the Vitosha Mountain. When I finally arrived, the place looked somewhat deserted. There were only a couple of snowboarders standing around, looking a bit confused. A couple of ski-instructors telling these people that the weather conditions were not good and that it was dangerous to continue boarding. They were very disappointed. But honestly the wind made it impossible to see anything. One of the instructors, who didn’t want to be mentioned by name, said: “The mountain is beautiful. I spent more time during my childhood on Vitosha then with my family at home. But to tell you the truth, I am very disappointed. The facilities are really not up to standard. Some of the lifts are not working. And there is no real good quality accommodation available. Just opposite the lift is a huge hotel that’s deserted.

The price of real estates in Vidin, alongside the Danube River, has soared three-fold on the background of progressing negotiations for the construction of Danube Bridge-II, according to local realtors.

British landed proprietors are exploring the investment opportunities in Bulgaria.

The proprietors are willing to invest in hunt tourism, horse breeding and the construction of dog farms, specialized in foxhunt, Bulgaria's Agriculture Ministry announced. The news was broken by Deputy Agriculture Minister Stefan Yurukov following his meeting with a four-member delegation of the UK.

The delegation is on a visit to Bulgaria to see the country's traditions in rural economy and hunting.

Bulgaria's Agriculture Ministry has to prepare a draft with reforms for the Hunt Law that would attract more foreign capitals in that sector of the Bulgarian economy.

Bulgaria's Finance Minister Milen Velchev and the chief of EC Delegation to Sofia Dimitris Kurkulas signed Friday the financial memorandum on the construction of a new bridge over Danube river.

A new ski center with 14 alpine tracks to be used by nearly 4,600 skiers will emerge in the north-western part of Rila Mountain, to connect the areas of Panichishte, the Lakes and Kabul Peak.

The concept for the construction of Super Borovets has received a greenlight from the Sofia Governor and the members of the special working group dealing with the mega project.

The concept outlining the strategy of development of Samokov Municipality and the resort of Borovets is worked out so as to fit a candidature of Bulgaria to host 2014 Winter Olympics, Sofia district's press office announced on Wednesday.

Flip Byrnes uncovers the best ski resorts in eastern Europe

In Bulgaria, it's hard to spot the locals for all the English descending here every season. Their increasing numbers have made this the flavour of the month for one reason only. It's cheap. Crazily, undeniably, ridiculously cheap. A three-star hotel for seven nights with breakfast and dinner is from GBP 165. That's great, but is there still snow? Yes.

THE real estate market in Bulgaria reached incredible heights in 2004, boosted by interest among foreigners in buying property in this country, and by increased purchasing power of Bulgarians due to the increased availability of mortgage loans.

Bulgaria has become a favoured destination for international holiday home investors, the Financial Times wrote in a report on Bulgaria in November. Although coming with a bit of delay, this recognition was a sign of the attractiveness of Bulgarian real estate opportunities.

The increase in residential real estate prices in the recent months has brought unprecedented media coverage of the real estate market.One can read articles about real estate in almost all daily and weekly newspapers and magazines.Real estate has become an attractive topic even to government officials, whose public statements have even further increased the hustle around residential real estate prices.