Construction Boom in Bulgarian Winter Resorts
10.02.2007Thousands of British property investors have been investing their money into Bulgarian holiday flats, in ski resorts and on the coast. The investors are interested in the ski resort of Pamporovo in the Rhodope mountains, near the Bulgaria's border with Greece and the Bansko resort in Pirin mountain.
Pamporovo has a fascinating setting, with peaks and pine hills stretching everywhere around, British journalists describe the resort. The only thing missing this year is snow. 60 apartment blocks have been started or finished in the last year. Around half of the holiday flats are owned by UK investors. New complexes are almost exclusively snapped up by British and Irish buyers, said BBC in a research about the Bulgarian properties. On a question how many buyers actually came to inspect in Pamporovo before paying , Slavi Mihailov the agency's local representative answered, that probably 50% come and look before they buy and the rest trust the marketing materials and their own research from home.
It was reported that 160 development permits have been issued in the last two years, implying a supply of flats with a total 27 000 beds. It appearse a problem that the existing infrastructure, water supply, ski lifts and electricity is designed to support 5 000 beds. For the next stage of the infrastructure development, which is still being built, prices have risen by 12%, because of the big demand for rental accommodation.
Specialists forecast that a big change for property investors could be the arrival of more airlines, such as Ryanair and Easyjet, cutting the cost of travel and increasing the number of visitors. There is a new ski area, Perelik, opening next door to the Pamporovo resort, with access planned for skiers staying in Pamporovo. That is bad news for sections of forest which may have to be cut down for providing more skiing space for the crowds gathered in these breathtaking mountains, BBC pointed out as a negative part of the resorts' development.
