Bulgarian Property

This is only part of the Bulgarian property story.
Bulgaria is a country in transition and nowhere is this transition more evident than along the Black Sea coast - the 380 kilometres of craggy headlands, natural dunes, secluded coves and Blue Flag beaches that link Bulgaria with Romania in the north and Turkey in the south. Here, a strategic programme of infrastructure developments, including direct motorway links with the capital, Sofia, the re-construction of the airports at Burgas and Varna and local initiatives such as the Sunny Beach expansion corridors linking the villages of Tankovo and Kosharittsa with the resort, are forming a framework for sustainable capacity growth which, in turn, is re-shaping the real estate market and attracting major injections of both private investment capital and EU funding.

The Bulgarian tourist industry is bringing more than three million visitors a year to the region. Bulgarian property developers are following rapidly in their wake and travel agents across Europe now boast the Black Sea as a key destination in their portfolios. Package holidays to the Bulgarian beach resorts are selling better than ever before - in more countries than ever before - and travel operators who no longer enjoy the profit levels that they have realised over the past few years in other countries are now looking to Bulgaria for higher margins. This all serves to underpin the long-term future of the Bulgarian resorts areas and signals that both capital appreciation and rental yields from quality locations and developments should continue to demonstrate a strong and consistent growth profile.

Bulgarian holiday homes still top tne property buyer's list of priorities. But the current proliferation of commercial tourism projects, world-class hotels, leisure complexes and golf courses is opening up a wave of new longer-term property investment opportunities. There is an increasing demand for the continuing development of quality rental properties. And. now, off-plan apartments in good locations, individual buy-to-let properties and plots of regulated land with building status are fast becoming the preferred purchase options for both new buyers and more established investors.

Bulgarian property capital growth: Buying an off-plan property in Bulgaria is one of today's most profitable investment opportunities. Data returns from the Real Estates National Association show that prices increased by an average of 26% through 2003/2004, with a similar forecast for 2005 - and many off-plan purchasers have realised a 30% increase on their investment even before their properties were completed. Clearly, these levels of capital growth cannot continue indefinitely but, since EU accession in January 2007 and little sign of any decline in the demand for quality rental properties, there are strong indications that double figure percentage growth can be realistically expected for some years to come.

Bulgarian property rental yield: With effective and professional property management, an average return on investment of 8-10% can be expected from both short and long term rental. Moreover, for the foreseeable future, tourist occupancy in quality rental accommodation is likely to be high to very high because ...
Bulgarian tourist numbers are already 12-15% up on the equivalent period for last year. The forecast is for an 18-20% increase for the whole season and there is an overall 20% per annum growth plan in place over the next four years.
The continuing increase in tourist numbers is being underpinned by major infrastructure developments, such as the doubling in capacity of Burgas airport and the direct motorway link from Sofia to Burgas.
Bulgarian development planning is enhancing the entire area by bringing in a network of commercial tourism projects, 5-star accommodation and high-class facilities such as golf courses.
The expected introduction of low-cost flights over the next year or two will facilitate the growing trend for visitors to construct their own holiday itineraries through flight-only and self-selected accommodation arrangements, rather than relying only on holiday packages.
Ultimately, of course, this risk-v-reward analysis, the separation of rumour from fact and the process of decision-making is a purely subjective matter. There is only one person who can decide whether, when and how much to invest in a Bulgarian off-plan property development - and that's you.