Shortage of Homes in Central and East Europe

Bulgaria ranks in Top 3 of countries with the most property owners - 91% of the households own the estate, they live in.

Higher is the percent only in Croatia (92%) and Romania (96%).

The quality of the real estates, though, is still quite low and far behind the average standard of the West European countries, because most of the homes (round 70%) have been built in the period 1945 - 1990.

Africa Israel unit gets credit for Bulgaria project

Israeli conglomerate Africa Israel Investments (AFIL01.TA: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Sunday its subsidiary AFI Europe signed an accord with Investcredit bank for 59 million euros to finance the Business Park Varna project in Varna, Bulgaria.

The cost of acquiring the property and three existing buildings was 76.5 million euros ($118.3 million), the company said.

Business Park Varna, located near the Varna airport and the Black Sea, includes 35,000 square meters of office space as well as another 15,000 square meters under construction.

Bulgaria with Record Number of Real Estate Deals in 2007

A total of 325 385 real estate deals were made in Bulgaria in 2007, which is 4% more than their number in 2006, and a new record.

The data comes from a research of the Arco Real Estate company, which also states that the largest number of real estate deals were made in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Nessebar, and Ruse.

The number of real estate deals is expected to remain the same in 2008, according to analysts, whereas their total value is expected to rise.

Week of the Real Estate on the Balkans

The week continues with Balkan Property Exhibition - BalPEx - Spring 2008, the largest real estate exhibition on the Balkans that will start on April 18 till April 20 in Inter Expo and Congress Centre in Sofia, Bulgaria.

The organizers aim to present platform for discussion between representatives of the participants of the real estates market on the Balkans - investors, consultants, financiers, architectures, urbanism specialists and others.

Additional accent on the discussions will be placed on the property market in Macedonia, Albania, Monte Negro and North Greece.

Sofia Property Prices up 10-17% in Q1

Prices for diverse types of real estate property in Bulgaria's capital Sofia registered an average increase between 10% and 17% since the beginning of the year, a Bulgarian economic think-tank said.

The growth in prices can be attributed to the brisk demand by well-off people and insufficient supply, Lachezar Bogdanov from Industry Watch explained.

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