Bulgarian Property Sector To Post Even Growth In 2008, According To Deyan Kavrukov 14/03/2008
Bulgaria ranked third in the world in terms of property price growth in 2007. Average sale real estate prices rose by 36 per cent last year, whereas rentals posted a more modest mark-up of 6 to 7 per cent nationwide, reaching 10 per cent in Sofia. These figures were revealed by Deyan Kavrukov, a head of Bluehouse equity fund and a former partner in Equest, in an interview with BNT. The significant increase is propelled by various  factors:  ** steady domestic demand  ** robust investment growth  ** a rise in mortgage lending, which has been increasing by almost 100 per cent annually over the last years  ** GDP growth  ** considerable foreign demand for local property “The happy-go-lucky times of striking exorbitant profits out of property deals on the Bulgarian market have been gone... more

Interest In Buying Abroad 'is Higher Than Ever' 23/04/2008
The number of Britons who are looking at buying property abroad is now at a record level, an expert has stated. According to broadcaster Amanda Lamb, more people than ever are interested in purchasing a residence overseas. Ms Lamb, presenter of Channel 4's A Place in the Sun, said that while many are doing it as a lifestyle choice, others are doing it out of financial necessity. "First-time buyers who are finding it impossible to get on the housing ladder in the UK," she commented. Ms Lamb added that about 250,000 people are choosing to leave Britain every year in order to live in another country full-time. The comments came alongside research by A Place in the Sun Live, which found that the prospect of good weather is not the sole consideration for foreign property buyers.... more

The Netherlands In Bulgaria: The Dutch Are? Coming Even Closer - Sophia Echo 26/04/2008
The Netherlands has never departed from its role as a close partner of Bulgaria, at least not since the latter entered onto its pro-European path in the early 1990s. Unlike a host of other countries whose businesses flooded Bulgaria only on European Union and Nato accession, the Netherlands did it the difficult way by, instead, co-treading aspirant member states’ path to accession. Institutionalising the building of bilateral business ties – and in a steady, perennial and concerted manner – is a policy of the Dutch government. It persists in implementing it irrespective of the partner country’s level of development and is instrumentalised with technical and financial support programmes. These programmes – PSO and Matra – have been ongoing for so long that they ring familiar to many... more