Foreign Investments Reign Over Bulgarian Property Developments - Sophia Echo 14/07/2008
Foreign investors have a 97 per cent share of the total investments in Bulgarian commercial buildings, according to consultant company King Sturge, as quoted by website investor.bg. In Sofia and some other big cities there are pleanty of examples of completed developments, including numerous retail and office buildings. At the initial stage of those developments, there had been a partial share of Bulgarian investors, which was later sold to foreign players. This pattern was repeated with Sofia City Centre, which was acquired by the investment fund Equest Balkan Properties for 94 million euro. The Central Mall in Veliko Turnovo was bought out by European Convergence Property Company for 29 million euro. More than 15 future projects have been announced in Sofia alone and a further 10... more

Construction Boom In Apartments Continues 11/03/2008
A total of 4878 new construction permits were issued throughout Bulgaria in September 2007, 3110 of them for residential buildings, according to data from the National Statistical Institute. The construction boom in the residential sector continues to lag slightly behind demand for these properties, according to Monitor, the Bulgarian-language daily newspaper. Bourgas again 'defeated' Varna during the third quarter of the year, winning first place.  The city issued 635 permits, 534 of which were for residential buildings. Varna ranks second with 568 permits, including 442 for residential units. Plovdiv is third (498 permits) and Sofia comes fourth for new construction (406). Vidin came last with only four new residential buildings and six homes. Unlike Bulgaria,... more

Winslow Developments Secures 72m Leva Loan For Residential Project 09/04/2008
Investment firm Winslow Developments has secured a loan of 72 million leva from Raiffeisenbank Bulgaria to fund the construction of the first stage of its Winslow Gardens residential project in Sofia's Manastirski Livadi borough, investor.bg reported. The loan has a maturity of 42 months, investor.bg quoted the bank as saying. The developer plans to start work on the first stage of the gated community, which will cost 105 million leva and is scheduled for completion in mid-2010, later this month. Despite that fact, last week the company said it has sold 60 per cent of the apartments in Winslow Gardens off-plan. Some 80 per cent of the acquisitions were by Bulgarians, most of them young families with children. Unlike other real estate projects, built for investment purposes,... more