Bulgaria Ranks Sixth In Demand For Real Estate 17/12/2008
English-language countries have shown a remarkable interest in Bulgarian property, according to data from Globaledge.co.uk, which has more than 1.4 million international orders for real estate from around the world.The analysis is based on demand from the English-speaking world (UK, USA, Australia, Ireland and Canada), and the information was categorised and processed for each country and dates from September until December 2008.The English speaking world's love affair with Spain continues with Spanish real estate by far the most desired. Tenerife, Majorca and the Costa Blanca are all more popular destinations than Paris or most French destinations, bearing in mind that France occupies second places.Perhaps the biggest surprise in the research is Portugal, which ranks last of the 11... more

Resort Hotels Face Piecemeal Disposal 15/03/2008
The owners of some hotels on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast are revamping them into holiday home properties as concerns mount about the outlook for domestic real estate investments. The trend is especially evident in the coastal resort of Golden Sands, said local realtors. Currently, there are apartment listings at the Berlin Golden Beach hotel in the resort while the former Siren hotel is replaced by an apartment complex. The Golden Anchor hotel in the same resort is about to experience a similar transformation. There is no shortage of examples in the Sunny Beach resort either, said Dobromir Ganev, manager of the Foros real estate agency. Market watchers said hotel properties in mountain resorts like Bansko are also facing redevelopment into holiday home complexes. The trend is... more

Another Referendum On Controversial Oil Pipeline Fails 09/04/2008
A referendum in Sozopol municipality on the construction of Bourgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline was announced invalid on April 6 as turnout was below the necessary minimum of 50 per cent. Slightly more than 30 per cent of the 12 000 residents of the municipality voted, Bulgarian language daily Dnevnik reported. Sozopol municipality is south of Bourgas and includes the towns of Sozopol and Chernomorets, as well as several smaller villages. The population of Chernomorets voted most actively, as almost 50 per cent went to the polls in the early afternoon of April 6. In Sozopol, 37 per cent of the population had voted by 4pm. However, some of the villages in the same municipality recorded as low as eight per cent voting activity. “Their inhabitants are not that motivated as their homes... more

Regulations For Municipal Property Swaps Revised 15/03/2008
Legal changes will limit the swapping of municipal for private property, it emerged after  parliament adopted three bills of amendments to the Municipal Property Act on first reading. Swaps will be done only on the initiative of municipalities for the purpose of implementing infrastructural or investment projects. According to the second bill, municipal property will be sold only by public auction, except when property is liquidated. The change of ownership from public to private or vice versa will have to be approved by two-thirds of the municipal advisers. Currently, only a simple majority is required. The third amendment is aimed at preventing the delay of expropriation of property when the owner contests the price in court. more

Sofia Allocates 326.4m Leva For Design, Construction 14/03/2008
More than one third of Sofia's budget for 2008, or 326.35 million leva, has been allocated for design works and new construction, Stroitelstvo Gradut weekly reported on March 10. The total budget is 892.9 million leva. Sofia city hall's investment programme stipulates that the money will be split among urban development research, new construction, repair works and expropriation procedures. The initial programme provided for repairs of Georgi Rakovski Street and Vassil Levski Boulevard, but the plans had to be scrapped, saving four million leva, which have been re-distributed for the construction of new kindergartens. The total sum to be invested in new kinder gardens reached 10 million leva. The biggest chunk of the funds, 153.75 million leva, has been allocated for the... more