International property investment advice from our expert Alan Forsyth
Latest Property Investment Advice
Brought to you weekly by our international property expert, Alan Forsyth.
Posted on 14 June 2007
Huge Demand for Property in Sofia
Hi,
I have just had 3 days in Sofia, checking on the market. I have been targetting the housing market there – as there is a huge under supply – indeed there are no large scale developers building houses.
This seems incredible considering there is a demand for a minimum of 60,000 new houses immediately!
The planning process can be quite slow which can put some developers off. The biggest time issue is down to the amount of paperwork required to get through every stage of planning – 8 licences are required for electricity/water/environmental issues and this can be quite a bureacratic process.
Naturally any developer should have all this in place, before selling any properties. You would imagine all developers would do this – however there are several cases of developers selling apartments, mainly in the beach resorts, before all the permits are in place – which clearly is against the law and a huge risk for investors.
There is a huge demand and other positive news is that:
Salaries are up over 15% in the last year, with young professionals and those working for the many multi-nationals in Sofia earning 2500-5000 euros a month.
Luxury Car Sales have gone up over 40% in the last year
Sofia is still the cheapest capital in Europe with prices 40-50% of Riga and Tallinn which are 2-3 years ahead – so huge potential over the next 3-5 years.
As I have regularly stated, investing in the cities, where locals want to live rather than in the over saturated beach resorts or the ski resorts that saw little snow last year, makes far more sense to me!
For more info on an off plan deal in Sofia, with strong guaranteed rentals in the first 2 years, email us at info@property-investment-deals.com
Malaysia
Malaysia looks a good bet as the mortgage market has opened up and foreigners buying has also been relaxed. Again though I would look to the cities rather than the tourist resorts for strongest capital growth prospects.
Fuerteventura
This Canary Island has excellent value, and year round sun. With flights coming in from most UK and European airports and banks lending based on valuations, this can provide excellent value with minimal money tied up.
If any questions, specific to your own situation – do not hesitate to contact me at info@property-investment-deals.com
All the best
Alan
Return to Alan's home page
About Alan:
Alan Forsyth is a full time property investor from the UK. He runs the website www.property-investment-tips.com which gives free, independent investing tips to investors. This site, www.property-investment-deals.com is designed to run alongside his original website, and will give in more detail his recommended property deals, and full details/pictures of any new deal on offer.