Latest real estate news

Bulgarian property funds developing or prepping to start projects are facing financial difficulties, market representatives told Dnevnik. The global economic doldrum has dampened demand and frozen prices on the property market, where some segments are even seeing downward price revisions.

The Bulgarian economy will be in the depths of a recession in the next two years with dwindling capital inflows and consumption squeezed by the rising jobless rate, forecast BNP Paribas economist Michal Dybula, a coauthor of a report on 2009 global economic outlook. Neighbouring Romania is also in for big trouble with GDP set to drop 0.6 per cent next year, according to the French lender.

Bulgarias new home mortgages dropped almost in half in JulySeptember, compared to the previous quarter, central bank statistics show. Banks gave 6406 new loans worth 620 million leva from July to September, compared to 12 165 worth 761.7 million leva for the three months before that.Lenders have put lending plans on the back burner and are cutting down in all segments amid brisk consumer demand and growing appetite for cash, bankers have said.

As the global financial turmoil tore down enduring myths about the global economy, Bulgarias domesticallylisted real estate investment trusts REITs have started losing their appeal as safe havens.

Bulgarian banks gave 9259 new corporate loans in JulySeptember, compared to 9724 in the previous quarter, data from the central bank has showed. Over the same period, households borrowed 103 332 times, down from 121 208 over the previous three months.

Gloom and glee were equally mixed in the ninemonth financial results reported by Bulgarian property funds, with many real estate investment trusts REITs worse off at the end of September compared to a year earlier.

Four Bulgarian banks raised the interest rates charged on levdenominated mortgage loans in September, data from moitepari.bg website, which compares loan and personal finance offers of different lenders, showed. The Moite Pari levadenominated index, which tracks the average annual interest rates of 20year mortgages, picked up five basis points to reach 9.61 per cent, the highest since was launched at the end of 2005.

Bulgarian Real Estate Fund, the local real estate investment trust REIT, has prepaid two loans from Eurobank EFG Bulgaria, worth a combined 20.16 million leva, to avoid interest payment, the head of the funds project manager Kaloyan Ninov said.

Bulgaria will continue to be a safe haven for Russian property investors despite the global financial crunch, a panel of Bulgarian officials have said during SofiaMoscow video conference that is part of a series on the prospects of RussianBulgarian cooperation in the field of tourism, organised by Russian news agency RIA Novosti organized at the Hilton hotel in Sofia.

The meltdown of financial markets worldwide is reaching morbid proportions and real estate investors are facing a race against time to avoid being embroiled in the collapse. Realtors are eager to sell every large site, office or trade facility that they have available. The current trend is not to cry wolf and raise general alarm, but sell as fast as possible every major project, brokers have told Bulgarianlanguage Standart daily on October 2 2008.