Property for sale in all regions of Bulgaria
Property for
sale in Bulgaria News
27 March 2006
New budget Bulgarian service
Travellers looking for cheap flights to Eastern Europe are to get a boost
with the launch of two new services from London to Bulgaria.
Wizz Air will begin operating
flights from Luton Airport
to the Bulgarian capital Sofia four times weekly, as well as flights from
Luton to Bourgas three times a week, from May 1.
The new flights, which will cost as little as £42.46 including taxes
and fees, were announced at a press conference at the Radisson Hotel Sofia
last week, bulgaria-property.com reports.
Bulgaria is proving a popular choice amongst Britons looking for a second
home, and UK-based property companies have also moved quickly to develop
in the country.
James Knight, director of property firm Knight International, congratulated
Wizz Air’s decision saying the ‘UK and Bulgaria have grown ever
closer today’.
Wizz Air is the first low-cost airline to offer flights from the UK to Bulgaria.
The budget carrier enjoyed a three-fold increase in passenger numbers in
2005 and believes it will become the largest airline in Central and Eastern
Europe within two years.
Flight times:
Luton to Sofia
Departs 6.30am, arrives 7.45am (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday)
Sofia to Luton
Departs 7.55pm, arrives 1.00am next day (Saturday)
Departs 8.20pm, arrives 1.20am next day (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)
Luton to Bourgas
Departs 4.40am, arrives 6.15am (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)
#
Bourgas to Luton
Departs 10.25pm, arrives 3.55am next day (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday)
Building season begins in Bulgaria's ski resorts
The reputation of Bulgaria as a premier country for ski holidays is continuing
to grow and investors are starting to take advantage of this by snapping
up properties.
According to the Sofia News Agency, there is currently a large selection
of plots for sale in Bansko
and Pamporovo –
two of the country's finest ski resorts.
Citing the Investor.bg website, the Sofia News Agency states that offers
are now pouring in as the new building season gets underway, with investors
keen to find themselves a bargain that will presumably gain a tremendous
amount in terms of value during the coming years.
It is an option that is increasingly appealing to investors who have become
frustrated by high prices in alternatives including Austria and France,
with property in Bulgaria
still remarkably cheap despite the quality of the ski slopes.
Nonetheless, it is claimed that the ever-popular Bansko
is seeing much higher prices than some of the other resorts, starting at
around €50 per square metre and rising to around €150.
The report suggests that there are approximately 450 plots for sale in Bansko,
with existing ski properties and off-plan projects attracting interest in
equal measure. As prices begin to rise considerably in the country, off-plan
investment has been tipped as a particularly sensible option, in that house
price inflation can mean that investors have made huge returns on properties
before they are even completed.
The ski resorts have also seen hotels and rented accommodation springing
up in recent years to cater for the growing number of tourists hitting the
areas each season.
With Bulgaria still seen as relatively undiscovered, many are combining
the traditional ski holiday with an opportunity to explore the spectacular
scenery, with the Black Sea resorts and the capital city of Sofia similarly
popular.
Tourism inevitably has a significant impact on property investment and it
is a factor that is expected to affect Bulgaria more than most.
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) predicts that the travel and
tourism sector will grow by 6.3 per cent this year in Bulgaria and by 4.3
per cent per annum, in real terms, between 2007 and 2016.
In terms of its direct and indirect impact, travel and tourism is likely
to contribute 16 per cent of GDP and 13.6 per cent of total employment this
year, both of which should be instrumental in enhancing the property market.
While Bulgaria is still only 68th out of 174 countries represented in the
WTTC survey, the speed with which Bulgaria has emerged as a tourist hotspot
has been striking and it is a trend that can only improve the country's
reputation for investment.
Bulgaria is not without problems, however, and the Sofia News Agency has
reported that Delia Meth-Cohn, senior consultant for CEEMEA at the Economist
Intelligence Unit (EIU), remains concerned over infrastructure and state
administration.
EU accession is a step that will be crucial in determining just how substantial
the economic growth in the country will be, but speculative investors are
already banking on impressive capital gains by purchasing cheap properties
in ski resorts and beach resorts alike.
Eurobank Analysts Remain Positive towards
Bulgarian Eurobonds
Eurobank analysts issued an assessment report on Bulgaria's economic status
and future prospects stating that Bulgaria was one of the best performers
within EMBI+ components during the recent EM sell-off outperforming other
lower-rated constituents of the index, reinstating its defensive nature,
sound fiscal policy adding that the country has made significant progress
on reforms implementation in accordance with EU demands.
Specifically, on the reforms front, following the European Commission’s
annual progress report on Bulgaria last October, Parliament has passed a
number of laws, including a new Penal Procedure Code and legislation allowing
confiscation of criminal assets.
Up to this point, a greater portion of the 2005 Action Plan for EU-related
reforms has already been passed and the approval of the remaining legislation
is likely in due course.
However, full implementation of the reforms will probably prove challenging.
Nonetheless, the European Council is likely to decide this June to allow
Bulgaria to join the EU on January 1st 2007.
In other related news, Moody’s recently upgraded Bulgaria’s
FX sovereign rating by one notch to investment grade (Baa3), bringing it
in line with existing ratings by the other two major agencies.
Eurobank analysts remain constructive towards Bulgarian Eurobonds multi/month
(EMBIg Burgaria sovereign spread at 80bps at the time of writing) in view
of the country’s improved EU prospects and Bulgaria’s sound
fiscal position.
Error! The codelock file is missing...