Interest in Bulgaria from visitors to TheMoveChannel.com remained steady over the last month as the 'Land of Roses' consolidated its position at number 5 in our 'Top of the Props' chart...

2007 was a banner year for Bulgaria, with the country topping the worldwide table for house price growth. According to the Global Property Guide, figures at the end of  September 2007 showed house prices had risen by 30.6%. This is a fantastic return for a country still considered to be an emerging market, and when considered in comparison to the UK's meager rise of 9.7%, it's clear why investors are flocking to Bulgaria.

Top investment destination for 2007

Despite amazing growth and its status as the world's best location for house price growth, Bulgaria is still full of bargain properties.  Chris Northam, Managing Director of Balkan Holdings plc, believes that existing housing stock in Bulgaria is often a better investment than buying off-plan.

He explained: "There are new build off-plan developments and the old existing housing stock. The latter, in the main, is still relatively inexpensive compared to almost anywhere else in Europe. In some cases it's quite ridiculously cheap by western European standards.

"It is a better potential investment than off-plan properties because in a number of areas, a little bit like Spain, they have developed too much too quickly. Supply exceeds demand in certain areas of off-plan."

Sofia is one of the key markets driving Bulgaria growth, and is one of only capital cities on earth with its own ski resort. Located a mere 10-15 minutes from the city centre and airport, there is never any shortage of tourists or residents flocking to its busy slopes - something that has made “The Black Peak” Bulgaria's most visited mountain. The clean air attracts Bulgaria's elite all year round and the foot of the mountain is quickly becoming recognized as Sofia's elite address.

Sofia in demand

The demand for accommodation in Sofia is actually rising far faster than the supply of quality real estate stock. The strong levels of demand and growth are being fuelled by sustainable inward foreign direct investment, and this is creating an affluent economy, providing employment and boosting local affordability.

Investors looking for the best areas of the city are increasingly drawn to the up-market southern suburbs such as those within easy reach of both the city and the fine skiing available at Mount Vitosha. Furthermore, Vitosha is traditionally the favorite location for foreign governments to site their embassies and is rapidly emerging as the second Central Business District of Sofia as the bankers follow the diplomats.

Although a small resort at present, the multi-million Euro investment project known as 'Super Vitosha' is set to expand the ski area and supporting infrastructure by several times. Full plans of Super Vitosha are yet to be revealed by First Investment Bank (backers of the Bansko resort infrastructure upgrades) but are believe to support a new Winter Olympic bid focused on Sofia and Mount Vitosha.

Simon Feek, founder of Emerging Markets Understoon (EMU) commented: “With more and more residents and investors buying their own homes, coupled with the fact there is a sustained influx of foreign investment, we believe that Vitosha is entering a period of very strong growth. What makes this opportunity so exciting is “not-only the “mixed-use” concept which has been so successful in other country's capital cities but also the “double whammy” of having what will soon be a well-planned, modern international ski resort less than a five minutes' commute from the office!”.

Holiday homes supply boost

2007 also saw a dramatic increase in the total number of holiday home units in Bulgaria. In mountain resorts, supply increased by 52% after almost 10,000 new apartment units were put on the market. Supply in coastal resorts also increased substantially and recorded a 39% growth, or 13,500 apartment units, in the first half of 2007.

The total number of holiday homes units as of June 2007 was found to be in excess of 76,500, according to the new Colliers International Bulgaria Holiday Homes Market Overview. In the mountains, the growth was most significant in the Bansko area (including Razlog), which accounted for 78% of the new supply.

On the coast, although Sunny Beach continued to account for more than one third of the supply, other resorts saw accelerated development as well. In St. Vlas and in Sozopol holiday homes supply increased by 52% and 62% respectively.

Overall sales prices in resort apartments remained unchanged for the past half year as supply continues to outpace demand. Price ranges remained within last year's limits of between EUR 800 and 1,700/m2.

Atanas Garov, Managing Director of Colliers Bulgaria, said, “International buyers, predominantly British and Irish, continue to account for most of the demand. Recently we have seen a lot of Russians entering the market, and they look to become major players.”

Ivan Velkov, General Manager of Colliers Bulgaria, added, “The quality of developments is continuing to increase with an emphasis on professional management offering high quality services and ample amenities to buyers.”

Other risers and fallers

The monumental tussle at the top of the chart continued, as France ousted Italy from the number one spot again. Thailand and Morocco shot up 3 and 5 places respectively to crash into the top 10 for the first time in months. Spain and Egypt continued to rise steadily, but the most impressive rise of the month came from Argentina, which jumped 16 places to number 14. Is Argentina on the verge of breaking into the top 10? We'll certainly see next month!

Countries which fared less well this month include the USA (Down 3 places to 6th), Cyprus (down 4 places to 12^th ) and Canada (Down 5 places to 22^nd)

To view current opportunities in the Bulgarian property market, please visit:
http://bulgaria.themovechannel.com/property

This months Top of the Props chart

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Overall Enquiry Volume for 12 2007
Rank	Country	Share	Change	Comment
1	France	8.37	Up 1	1 month in top spot
2	Italy	7.63	Down 1
3	Spain	7.15	Up 1
4	Bulgaria	5.82	Up 1
5	Egypt	5.5	Up 2
6	USA	4.75	Down 3
7	Turkey	3.99	Down 1
8	Thailand	3.88	Up 3	New to top 10!
9	Morocco	3.34	Up 5	New to top 10!
10	India	3.32	Non-mover
11	Portugal	3.2	Down 2
12	Cyprus	3.04	Down 4
13	Brazil	2.74	Down 1
14	Argentina	2.44	Up 16	Highest climber
15	Malta	1.93	Up 1
16	Romania	1.79	Up 2
17	UAE	1.79	Down 4
18	Greece	1.55	Up 3
19	Germany	1.49	Down 4
20	Panama	1.33	Non-mover
21	Bahamas	1.21	Up 15
22	Canada	1.21	Down 5
23	Poland	1.03	Down 4
24	Slovakia	1.01	Non-mover
25	Philippines	0.83	Up 4
26	Dominican Republic	0.72	Up 7
27	Montenegro	0.7		Highest New Entry
28	Malaysia	0.64	Down 1
29	Saudi Arabia	0.56		New Entry
30	Cape Verde	0.54	Down 2
31	Czech Republic	0.54	Up 10
32	Hungary	0.54	Down 7
33	Turks & Caicos Islands	0.52		New Entry
34	Latvia	0.48		New Entry
35	New Zealand	0.42	Down 9
36	Australia	0.38	Down 14	Biggest faller
37	Israel	0.36		New Entry
38	Netherlands	0.34	Down 6
39	Venezuela	0.32	Down 4
40	Estonia	0.3	Up 6

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