Obtaining Loan For the Purchase of Prefab Panel Apartment Gets More Difficult

Bulgaria's mortgage loan market was on vacation in August after the steep growth recorded in July. The lending was also affected in the holiday month, including the volume of the loans extended and their average size. The trend was witnessed in all cities across the country and may be attributed to the holiday season and the vacations of the banking employees. A considerable amount of the loan applications were not processed and will be reviewed in the start of the active season in September. August is a traditionally weak month for the banking system, according to Tihomir Toshev, executive director of CreditCenter. The smaller number of inquiries does not come as a surprise as we expect this slowdown to be offset during the most active period for the purchasing of properties, which is the end of the calendar year. All the declines mentioned today are for the month of August, while July was quite active, which actually means that the market has retained its normal pace, Toshev added. The activity in August was aimed mainly in the field of consumer lending, where nearly 40% of the extended loans were intended for residential property repairs improvements. The interest rates on loans continued to go up in August. This trend does not affect the market anymore, as consumers with stable incomes have been the most active for the second month in a row. The good news for the market is that many customers are more cautious because of the global credit crisis, which reduces the risks for both parties. The type of properties bought with bank loans is indicative of this cautiousness. The share of pre-fabricated panel apartments declines at the expense of apartments in new brick buildings. A total of 74% of the loans in August were extended for the purchase brick apartments, 20% of the loans were extended for the purchase of prefab panel apartments and 6% for other type of properties. This comes as a result of the banking criteria (the repayment term of the loan combined with the age of the prefab panel apartment should not exceed 50 years) and the forecasts of real estate agencies that the prices of prefabricated panel apartments will go down at the expense of the newly built properties with good location. The average size of the loans extended in August stood at 47,351 euros. Mortgage loan repayment term – Aug 2008 Up to 10 years 4,08% 10 to 15 years 16,32% 16 to 20 years 28,57% 21 to 25 years 20,41% 26 to 30 years 20,41% Over 30 years 10,21% The share of the loans extended in Bulgarian currency went up to 21% in August but this is only temporarily, according to CreditCenter's experts. City Avg loan size in euros Ratio euros/leva % Sofia 68730 92/8 Varna 47952 73/37 Bourgas 44880 85/15 Plovdiv 43357 83/17 Stara Zagora 34500 85/15 Rousse 38555 53/47 Blagoevgrad 32600 81/19 Veliko Tarnovo 35500 76/24 Pleven 32100 75/15 Dobrich 41657 80/20 Kardjali 25385 90/10 Sliven 23122 75/25 Yambol 26290 46/54 Източник: Profit.bg

Outlook for Sofia Office Space Market Good

Despite the effects of the credit crunch and forecasts for an overall slowdown in economic growth, Bulgarian gross domestic product defied the expectations of economists by recording seven per cent growth in the first quarter of 2008, real estate consultants CB Richard Ellis said in a Sofia office market overview for the first half of 2008. Bulgaria remains attractive to international companies that outsource and offshore parts of their activities to the country, driven by the availability of well-educated and experienced specialists at lower salaries as compared to Central and Eastern Europe, Western Europe and the US, as well as the low corporate and personal income taxes (both 10 per cent), among others. Therefore, according to the report, Sofia’s office market will continue to develop actively at least in the next two to three years. Office space completion in the first half of 2008 set a record, with completions coming in at levels of over 87 per cent of all completions in 2006 and 58 per cent of all completions in 2007, CB Richard Ellis said. As a result of this large amount of completions, Sofia now has modern office stock of approximately 808,000 sq m, according to the company. This number will continue to increase, in view of more than 250,000 sq m scheduled for completion by the end of the year. That said, the consultancy doubts that all announced office projects will actually enter the market by the end of the year. CB Richard Ellis expect that no more than 150,000 sq m will actually enter the market by the end of the year. Another 500,000 sq m are expected by the end of 2010, to make the total pipeline approximately 750,000 sq m.

USA Invsted $600 Mln in Bulgaria for 18 Years - US Ambassador Beyrle

In the last 18 years the American Agency for international development had invested in Bulgaria round $600 million. This was informed by the US Ambassador to Bulgaria John Beyrle, by the time of the international press conference on theme ‘Democracy that give result'. The Ambassador calculated that the US Government invested per $10 every year in each Bulgarian citizen. The local experience in the development of the democracy may be favorable for the Western Balkans, the diplomat added.

Public Tender for Reconstruction of Part of Burgas Airport

The concessioner of the Bulgarian airport “Burgas” announced a public tender for an implementor of the rehabilitation of line “A” and an air-strip for taking off and landing.“Fraport” anticipates the reconstruction to include line “A” with an area of 1500 sq. m as well as 100 sq. m of a air-strip serving airplanes' taking off and landing.The company, which will be selected for implementing the reconstruction, should finish it in three months – this is the period the German company gives for completing the work on the air-strip, informs BGNES.The guarantee for participation is 1000 EUR. According to the law this sum could be up to 1% of the tender's value. The applicants should present documents, proving their economic, financial and technical capabilities for implementing the task. Recommendations from previous clients for good work are also needed.