Bulgarian Properties

It is now clear where the new container terminal of Varna Marine Port will be located.

It will extend on over 17 hectares on the northern coast of Varna lake. The plot will be handed over as soon as Varna municipality and the Government sign the memorandum for reconstruction of the area. The whole project includes the re-location of the entire port to the western side of the lake and construction of holiday/tourist areas on the current grounds of the port.

The total cost of the project is estimated at 500 million euro and part of it will be financed by the Japanese Bank of International Co-operation, which has approved a loan of 226 million for construction of cargo terminals in Varna and Bourgas Ports.

Parliament is expected to approve the loan by the end of June and to appoint a concessionaire by the end of November 2008. If the project passes the necessary approvals with no delays, the construction works will start in August 2010 and should finish in 2014.

Prices for various types of properties in Bulgaria’s capital Sofia has increased with between 10% and 17% since the turn of the year.

The growth in prices can be explained with the brisk demand by well-off people and insufficient supply, property specialists explained.

Bulgarian properties prices in the capital are expected to continue their increase and their annual growth by the end of the year is forecast to range between 10% and 20%.

Investors’ interest is high in developments in the big cities, particularly in the capital Sofia and the Black Sea town of Varna, which now have some the highest residential property prices in Bulgaria.

The average price paid for residential Bulgarian properties was 750 Eur/m2 in 2007 compared to approximately 620 Eur/m2 in 2006, according to real estate companies.

Sofia, which has the highest salaries in the country, benefited from the real estate boom and recorded the highest rise in prices last year - almost 25%, reaching an average price of around 800 Eur/m2.

Israeli real estate developer Electra Group has started building on its first Bulgarian Properties project – a gated residential community in Varna, to be named Botanic VIP Residence, the company’s sales manager Petar Petrov told Dnevnik daily on March 30.

The complex, in direct proximity to Varna botanical gardens, will cover 1.2 ha of land and will comprise seven buildings, with a total of 216 apartments. According to Israeli media, Electra acquired the piece with the ready project in 2006 at the price of 4.56 million euro.

The expected gain after selling the apartments is expected to reach 80 million euro. Three of the apartment blocks are scheduled for termination by the end of the year. Off-plan prices start at 1 350-1 500 euro a sq m.

Electra’s pipeline enlist another three projects in the Varna / Bulgaria area - an office building and a mixed-use scheme in the city and a 53 ha residential community in the vicinity of area village Kalimantsi, Dnevnik wrote.