Foreign direct investments into real estate has been losing momentum in the first quarter of 2008, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said in a report covering the January-March period. read more

Foreign direct investments into real estate has been losing momentum in the first quarter of 2008, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said in a report covering the January-March period. Investments worth 333.4 million euro in January-March is the lowest quarterly figure reported for the past two years, the BNB report noted. read more

Sparkassen Immobilien, the real estate arm of Austria’s Erste Bank, plans to invest up to 300 million euro in Bulgaria over the next two to three years, Friedrich Wahernig, member of Sparkassen Immobilien board of directors said on June 11. Its focus in the medium-term would be office and retail space. Additionally, Sparkassen Immobilien has remained keen on financing real estate projects in the region, Wahernig said. The company plans to divest of real estate investments in Western Europe and invest in Eastern Europe, Bulgaria included. read more

Fast wealth accumulation and the aspiration toward higher living standards will shape demand on the real estate market in Bulgaria, Kristofor Pavlov, chief economist at UniCredit Bulbank, told the Annual Summit of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Kiev, Ukraine. read more

Lewis Charles Sofia Property Fund announced it would receive 1.89 million euro in gross proceeds from the sale of part of its project in Sofia, Thomson Financial said. Lewis Charles sold 10.3 per cent of the total build area of its project to an unnamed insurance fund, based in Athens, according to investor.bg. Gross revenue from this disposal, the first made by the fund, would be 10.49 million euro, including development costs and profit share, Thomson Financial quoted the company as saying. read more

The infrastructure unit of international financial group Morgan Stanley is screening opportunities for investment in infrastructure projects in Bulgaria, company sources told Investor.bg on May 12. read more

Bulgaria is the third most-attractive destination for foreign investments in Southeastern Europe after Turkey and Romania, according to the Southeast Europe Attractiveness Survey 2008, compiled by the independent market researcher CSA at the request of Ernst & Young and released on April 24. read more

Black Sea Investment real estate investment trust (REIT) issue rights will trade on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE) starting from April 14 until April 24, the REIT said in a filing to BSE on April 4. read more

Investors with property in France can be generally confident that they will receive a reasonable return on their investment, Nick Dowlatshahi, managing director of Leapfrog Properties, told holidaylettings.co.uk. read more

FairPlay Properties real estate investment trust (REIT), part of FairPlay International Jsc, has signed three loan agreements to secure cash for the purchase of land plots in Sofia residential district Studentski Grad, Dnevnik daily reported. read more

Park real estate investment trust (REIT) registered an annual profit of 5.73 million leva for 2007, 5.72 million of it generated after the mandatory re-evaluation of the fund’s investment properties as required by the law regulating special purpose vehicles. read more

ProLogis European Properties, a subsidiary of the United States-based company ProLogis, specialised in logistic space, plans to invest another 91.7 million euro in real estate across Europe, Europe RE real estae website reported. read more

French-based leading credit management firm Coface put Bulgaria in its list of countries under surveillance due to the increasing amount of business risk, the credit insurance agency said in a statement on March 30. Coface also downgraded its country risk rating from "A4", which it assigned in January last year, to "A4-". read more

At their annual meeting on 25 March, the shareholders of FairPlay Properties Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) decided to distribute eight million leva of the company’s profit for 2007 as dividend, the company said in a statement. read more

Bulgaria's property market is 85 per cent foreign investment-driven and has been experiencing an outflow of British and Irish buyers lately, but the predictions of some pundits for a re-advent of British buyers could still be proven right, as UK investors have not lost their zest for investing in property abroad. read more

Bulgarian real estate investment trust (REIT) Agricultural Land Opportunity Fund Mel Invest expects to buy 8 000 ha of arable land at an average cost of 2 500 leva a hectare in 2008, according to the prospectus for the upcoming equity hike of the company, submitted to the Bulgarian Stock Exchange. read more

FairPlay Properties real estate investment trust (REIT) targeted a sales revenue of 42.46 million leva for 2008, the company said in a statement on March 21. The fund expects a profit of 10.4 million leva for 2008, compared to 8.8 million leva last year. read more

Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), the investment arm of Dubai government, has not struck a deal for buying the Spanish property company Colonial because it did not succeed in reaching an agreement with the company's creditors, Reuters reported. read more

Elana Financial Holding will be floating its shares in an initial public offer (IPO) in the second half of this year, Kamen Kolchev, chair of Elana Holding AD board of directors and chief executive director, said on March 19. The holding plans to offer between 15 and 25 per cent of its shares. read more

Bulgaria Property Fund (BPF) has concluded a preliminary contract for the sale of an office building on Sofia’s G.M. Dimitrov Boulevard for 17.5 million euro, excluding value-added tax, to be paid in instalments tied to the stage of completion of the building, Dnevnik daily reported. read more

Prices of small land plots in Bulgaria vary between 2 000 and 3 000 leva a hectare, profit.bg reported. Elana Property Management’s managing director, Vesselin Petrov, said that land prices have posted a 20 per cent growth last year, reaching 2 000–2 800 leva a hectare. read more

The collective agricultural land assets of the Bulgarian real estate investment funds (REITs) reached 60 000 ha in late February, Dnevnik daily reported on March 17, quoting data made available by the biggest funds on the market. read more

The Eastern European real-estate sector on the London Stock Exchange's alternative investment market (AIM) was so complicated, it could be "deemed a specialist subject on mastermind," Investors Chronicle magazine reported in an article named Broken Eastern promises.

There were too many companies on the market, often with confusingly similar names, and many more that have vanished without a trace after failing to raise capital.

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Real estate investment trust (REIT) Advance Terrafund announced that its agricultural land stock stood at 21.7 ha at the end of February 2008, Dnevnik daily reported on March 12.

Lands in north-eastern and north-central Bulgaria formed the greatest share of the REIT's portfolio. Advance Terrafund invests mainly in agricultural land, which forms 83 per cent of its portfolio.

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The management of the Bulgarian Industrial Association (BIA) has warned that the country's real estate sector and related industries should brace themselves for a chain of bankruptcies in 2008, which could affect the gross domestic product growth. read more

Bulgarian real estate investment trust (REIT) FairPlay Properties raised 11.5 million leva in its fourth capital hike, just over half of the shares on offer, the company said in a statement on March 10. read more

Britain remained the biggest investor in Bulgarian economy for a second year in a row, Dnevnik daily reported on March 10, quoting figures from Bulgarian National Bank (BNB). British foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bulgaria rose 23 per cent year-on-year to reach 901.5 million euro in 2007, accounting for 16 per cent of all FDI inflows.

The UK stayed top of the table on the back of the significant investment that Brits are making on the Bulgarian property market, Dnevnik claimed. But looking forward, British investors do not seem poised for a hat-trick in 2008. Local realtors are saying demand for resort properties among British home buyers is reaching a standstill.

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The asset management of Bulgaria's DSK Bank, majority owned by Hungary's OTP group, said it would start selling on March 7 shares in its newest fund, DSK Imoti, Dnevnik daily reported.

DSK Imoti shares would be available for purchase at DSK Bank branches and would be listed on the Sofia stock exchange in the near future, Petko Krustev, executive director of DSK Asset Management, said.

The sectoral fund will target mainly real estate investment trusts. It is the fourth fund run by DSK Asset Management, which has more than 106 million leva worth of assets under management.

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Having already cut down on loans for coastal holiday developments, Bulgaria's risk-averse banks are now doing the same investors trying to raise funding for ski resort projects, Dnevnik daily reported on March 7.

One of the reasons is the sharp decline in the uptake of resort holiday homes over the last 7-8 months, caused to some extend by the pullback of British home buyers. Financial institutions have been shying away from ski resort developments in the past several months, Bulgarian Properties manager Nikola Stoyanov said, as quoted by the paper. Krasimir Dimitrov from property developer Source concurred, saying that the banks were being too cautious.

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London-listed Bulgarian Land Development (BLD) managed to shed its pre-tax loss by 81.8 per cent to 243 000 euro in 2007 due to increased income, it said on March 6, as reported by SeeNews. The loss per share was 1.23 cent in 2007, compared to the 5.57 cent in 2006, BLD said in a statement to Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange, where it is listed, SeeNews said. read more

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Bulgaria reached 5.7 billion euro in 2007, Bulgarian Investment Agency said. Bulgarian investments in the economy in the same period were 15.5 billion leva, the equivalent of 7.9 billion euro, according to the Bulgarian National Bank data. Britons were the top investors in Bulgaria in 2007, focusing mainly on real estates. Dutch investors were next and then Austria, Belgium and Greece. read more

Laxey Partners investment company increased its stake in the London Stock Exchange-listed Bulgarian Land Development Plc (BLD) investment fund by purchasing 2.11 million shares, totalling 5.75 million shares or 14.37 per cent, fund’s officials told investor.bg. BLD representatives were not available for a comment. As previously reported, Laxey Partners has recently announced that it is considering the establishment of a fund, aimed at investing 660 million euro in undervalued companies and property funds across Europe. read more

More than half of Bulgarians seeking to buy property will use mortgage loans to finance the purchase, a survey commissioned by Raiffeisenbank and carried out by GfK Bulgaria showed, as quoted by Bulgaria news agency (BTA). The survey, carried out between January 7 and 15, covered individuals aged between 26 and 55 in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Bourgas, Rousse, Pleven and Stara Zagora. Mortgage loans are thus the most popular means of financing, with only 17 per cent planning to pay with their own money, and eight per cent would sign hire-purchase agreements. About 5.4 per cent of respondents said that they have used a loan in the last five years and 10.2 per cent said they planned to use one in the next two years. read more

A total of 240 Bulgarian companies registered for bankruptcy last year, which is a 31 per cent mark-up on the previous year, according to the regular report of Coface, a world leading company in credit management. The agriculture and forestry sector heads the ranking, accounting for 22.5 per cent of declared insolvencies. Next comes the retail trade – accounting for 15.83 per cent – and then comes the construction industry with 6.25 per cent. The building sector is among the top three most hazardous industries in Bulgaria. Hence, it's expected that the number of bankruptcies will rise by 50 per cent in 2008, primarily due to ongoing massive unsound investment in holiday properties along the Black Sea coast and in the mountains, said Kamelia Popova, managing director in Coface. She noted that construction is also the riskiest sector in Central and East Europe (CEE) and that the number of Bulgarian bankruptcies is likely to reach regional levels soon. read more

Lewis Charles Sofia Property Fund Ltd has a portfolio of Bulgarian real estate developments worth 83.85 million euro, acquired at the cost of 43.1 million euro, with a total area of 567 950 sq m, the fund’s officials reported. Average residential price in Sofia stood at 927 euro a sq m in 2007, and in Varna it was 901 euro, according to Lewis Charles. The Sofia market will see a delivery of 1.4 million sq m of new residential units in 2008/2009, mostly offered off-plan, according to the fund’s analysts. They do not expect that new housing space will exert pressure on prices because the capital’s market is enjoying robust interest from new players. The trend will continue as infrastructure develops, according to Lewis Charles. Holiday properties in mountain resorts have seen higher increases than coastal ones, the fund's officials noted. read more

British investment company Laxey Partners will set up a new fund, Terra Catalyst, which will invest in “undervalued” companies and property funds across Europe, company officials said in an interview with investor.bg. The new fund has raised about 160 million euro from institutional investors and will be listed on the alternative investment market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange. The new entity will draw a loan from Credit Suisse to increase its investment volume to 660 million euro. It is intent on pouring most of its capital within six months after going public. The company’s executives did not specify whether the investment scope of the fund would embrace Central and East Europe. read more

Spanish MTM Grup has declared its interest in developing a construction materials plant near Plovdiv and a residential compound in Bobov dol.

The Spanish company signed a contract with Bulgarian transport company Assarel Trans Ltd from Panagyurishte on January 23 for consultancy services and draft the construction plans for the plant, which would be eligible for EU funding.

Local authorities and company representatives will hear proposals from a working group on February 29.

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The total volume of the bank loans extended in Bulgaria in January 2008 amounted to 530 million leva. The figure represents a nearly six-fold decrease compared to December 2007, when the volume of the loans stood at 3.38 billion leva. The growth of the business loans is slowing down significantly. Business loans growth marked a 71.5-per cent year on year increase in December 2007. The figure dropped to 69.9 per cent in January 2008. The credit growth to the non-government sector slowed to 61.8 per cent year on year as of end-January as compared to 62.5 per cent at end-December, according to the monetary survey of the central bank. read more

Local real estate investment trust (REIT) Agro Finance, dealing in securitisation of arable land, acquired 207.2 ha of agricultural land in January, the company said in a filing with the Sofia Stock Exchange. Currently, the fund’s assets stand at 15.397 million leva, at an average acquisition cost of 2259.4 leva hectare. read more

The combined land asset holdings of local real estate investment trusts (REITs) are approaching 60 000 ha, according to financial reports from some of the biggest REITs filed with the Sofia stock exchange. Elana Agricultural Land Opportunity Fund boasts the biggest farmland portfolio with 25 330 ha as of the end of January. The average acquisition cost is reported at 2 030 leva a hectare. REITs posted earnings of 47.865 million leva in 2007. No dividend will be distributed as the upside resulted solely from asset revaluations. read more

About 41 per cent of the rights issued as part of the capital raise of local real estate investment trust FairPlay Properties, a unit of property developer FairPlay International, have not been picked up by investors and will be invalidated. Only 61 100 of the 20 830 880 unexercised rights were transacted at the February bourse auction. This means that if the residual rights are exercised and investors subscribe and then pay up the shares to which they are entitled, the company will hike its capital by around 60 per cent of the target amount. read more

Federal Development, an international real estate development and asset management company, and Bulgaria's Petrol Holding, the second largest oil products wholesaler in the country, said on February 19 2008 they agreed to create a joint venture that would focus on developing mixed-use real estate opportunities in Bulgaria. Initial plans focused on converting and redeveloping approximately 50 sites, owned by different entities within the Petrol Holding group of companies, including Petrol AD, Naftex Petrol and Evrocapital Bulgaria, which manages its real estate assets. These sites will be converted from oil servicing facilities to mixed-use developments that will likely include office, retail, and residential components. read more

The global credit crunch may yet spoil the Trakia highway transaction, Standart daily reports. The Bulgarian-Portugal consortium, Trakia Highway Jsc, which was named as the highway concessionaire by the previous government, has experienced difficulty in securing finance for the infrastructure project. read more

Financial intermediation absorbed 1.741 billion euro in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2007, up a solid 137 per cent year-on-year, central bank data shows. The upside came from the capital hikes performed by local banks and insurance companies and the large volume of intercompany credits, said experts. read more

Bulgarian real estate investment trust City Development REIT said it agreed to buy several properties in Sofia for 193 000 euro, with a view to subsequent sale, the company said in a filing with Bulgarian Stock Exchange (BSE). The company bought two garages, a fitness hall and a shop, which it hoped to sell for a combined profit of 87 000 euro. read more

Greek investment firm Global Finance planned to expand its investment in real estate on the Balkans by setting up a second property fund, to be named Global Emerging Property Fund II (GEPF II), investor.bg reported, quoting Greek media. read more

Kremikovtzi, Bulgaria's largest steel-maker, cut down production significantly at the end of 2007, the company says in a report to the holders of bonds, secured with some of the plant's assets. The 325-million euro seven-year bond issue was drawn out in early 2006 with an annual coupon of 12 per cent. read more