Lewis Charles Fund Invests 45 Million Euro In Sofia Property Developments 15/03/2008
Lewis Charles Sofia Property Fund, an investment company focused on investment in the Bulgarian residential property market, has a pipeline of eight residential schemes in Sofia with a combined price tag of more than 45 million euro, a company statement said. The fund's property portfolio has a total build area of 567 590 sq m and currently has a valuation of 83 852 536 euro. In the Bulgarian capital, the fund is developing gated communities in the Vitosha, Simeonovo and Krastova Vada boroughs. The first project was completed in 2007 while the other five are expected to be completed during 2009. One of these projects is still at the foundation stage. The build area for the six projects totals 95,382 sq m. The fund also owns a further 13 170 sq m of land in the Sofia borough... more

Residential Prices In The Euro Zone Normalising Ecb 10/03/2008
After the abrupt housing price rises of recent years, the residential market in the euro zone was cooling off and would gradually return to normal, according to the monthly bulletin of the European Central Bank. The annual growth rate of residential property prices in the euro zone as a whole was five per cent in the first half of 2007, down from 6.1 per cent in the second half of 2006. In general, available estimates suggest that house prices continue to be on a gradual path towards normalisation following the acceleration observed between the mid-1990s and 2005. Country data suggests that the moderation in euro zone house price inflation was particularly pronounced in those countries that recorded relatively high residential property price rises in recent years, such as... more

High House Prices Drive Ftbs Overseas 27/03/2008
High house prices and economic problems in the UK are leading to many first-time buyers (FTBs) looking abroad, a study has found. Fair Investment Company revealed that nearly one in ten FTBs have already bought their first property overseas, while 44 per cent of thinking of doing so. The firm highlighted a number of reasons for people choosing to look away from home, such as the impact of the credit crunch on the British housing market. However, issues including the availability of property in the UK and the effect this has had on prices were flagged up as other factors behind this trend. James Caldwell, director of Fair Investment Company, commented: "Overseas they can sometimes find cheaper property prices and a lower cost of living." He added that this could make a first home... more