Pearl Property News & Blog

Photo: Julia Lazarova

Between 50 and 60 private property auctions have culminated in a sale but only one such case was recorded last year, according to data provided by website targ.bg during a seminar organised by imoti.net.

“About a third of private auctions end with a deal,” targ.bg owner Georgi Palpourin said. “However, the number of such auctions is negligible given that, at any time, there are often more than 2000 sales ads posted by private bailiffs. The Ministry of Justice is the only source with information on how many actually end in a deal since it gets the transaction reports.”

“Private property auctions are still somewhat of an oddity in Bulgaria. Still, they are useful for people who want to save time and money as they can sell their property within two months. However, the success of the undertaking depends on setting the right asking price. Sellers often try to extract the amount they paid for a property bought before the crisis but experts insist that a deal at such terms is impossible. Motivation to clinch a deal is the highest among people experiencing financial difficulties, which most often means they cannot service their bank debts. Public auctions also take place when a real estate agency has been unable to sell the property,” Palpourin said.

Inability to access credit has so far been the main problem facing buyers at property auctions. However, about a month ago First Investment Bank introduced a mortgage loan designed for that purpose.

“We have so far extended 12 chance mortgage loans for the purchase of properties sold by bailiffs,” retail banking chief Milka Todorova said. However, the bank is required to work with the bailiff who has declared the property for sale. First Investment Bank has signed agreements with bailiffs in Sofia, Varna, Stara Zagora, Shoumen, Bourgas and Pleven.

Sofia Echo

Work on extending Sofia's metro underground railway system - Photo: Nadezhda Chipeva

About a third of property sales in Bulgaria in 2011 were motivated by people wanting to get out of their investments, according to a January 16 2012 report by local television station bTV.

The report, quoting a real estate agency study, said that property prices continued to fall in 2011, by nine per cent in Sofia and an average seven per cent countrywide.

However, the number of transactions was stable, according to the bTV report.

The number of transactions conducted in local currency the lev increased against those in euro, a reaction to speculation that the European Union’s common currency was headed for collapse, the report said.

More than half of those buying did so to meet their household need for accommodation, while most sellers – about a third – had put their properties on the market to get out of the investments, bTV quoted the agency as saying.

Repeating a refrain heard for several years, the agency said that the shape of the property market in Sofia in 2012 would be determined by the expansion of the public transport network as the metro railway is extended.

The agency said that it expected a 15 per cent increase in transactions in the residential areas of Nadezhda, Druzhba and Banishora, while completion of work on a metro extension would benefit the residential district of Lozenets.

Sofia Echo

Photo: Nadezhda Chipeva

Weighed down by heavy snow, Bulgaria woke up on January 27 2012 to closed roads, snow drifts of up to two metres and 121 villages without electricity.

The situation in Rousse remained severe, Bulgarian National Television said.

Efforts were being made to restore traffic access for lorries bound for Romania while at border crossings with Greece and Turkey, lorries were being held at parking bays.

States of emergency had been declared on January 26 in Svoge, Lovech, Ivanovo, Lisichevo, Batak, Velingrad and Popovo.

Emergency teams from electricity distribution companies and civil defence teams were working on restoring power supplies and clearing roads.

Sofia Airport had cancelled flights to Frankfurt and Bulgaria’s Black Sea city of Bourgas, according to Bulgarian National Television.

Overnight, snow in western Bulgaria had begun to stop but the situation remained difficult in the Danubian plain and in eastern Bulgaria.

A Code Orange weather warning was in force in Bourgas, Varna and Dobrich. Code Yellow was declared in the districts of Yambol, Sliven, Turgovishte, Rousse, Razgrad, Silistra and Shoumen.

Roads were closed in the Dobrich area, except for the road to Balchik. Most schools in Dobrich were closed for the day on January 27.

The Road Infrastructure Agency said on the morning of January 27 that the road between the town of Shoumen and the Black Sea city of Varna was closed. There were strong winds in Varna.

Roads in the Byala and Obzor areas on the route between Varna and Bourgas were closed.

In the areas worst-hit by snow, snowfalls were expected to end between 5pm and 7.30pm, making clearing-up operations easier.

Electricity distribution company CEZ told bTV said 22 settlements, all in the mountains, were without power. Road access was difficult but local authorities had promised that these roads would be opened by the end of the day to enable power restoration to go ahead, the company said.

Schools were closed in Gabrovo and Varna, bTV said.

Sofia Echo