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Bulgarian Bansko Phenomenon
Capital Weekly, 11.12.2004
With an average price of 770 euro per sq m of residential property offered Bansko currently ranks among the most expensive towns in Bulgaria. In terms of housings prices, the small town gives way maybe only to some of the residential areas of Sofia and Varna referred to as elite, and leaves behind Black Sea resort settlements as Sveti Vlas, Slanchev bryag and Zlatni pyasaatsi. Against the background of the average rise of between 30 pct and 40 pct in the prices of housings in Bulgaria for the first 11 months of the year, the growth of prices in Bansko has exceeded 70 pct. Concerning some individual properties, most of all new residential buildings, the prices have increased more than twofold. Currently the lowest price thresholds for the sale offers start from around 600 euro per sq m, while the prices of the most expensive properties even go beyond 1,200 euro per sq m. Only a year earlier, immediately before the official opening of the new "Ski and Tourist Centre" in the town, real estate brokers reported "skyrocketing" prices in the sale of new flats which by December 2003 had reached 500 euro per sq m. Large Scale Construction Apart from the twofold rise in real estate prices, an unprecedented growth is witnessed also with investments in new construction sites. The total built-up area of the announced projects and of the buildings, the construction of which is currently underway, exceeds 180,000 sq m. The biggest scale project is "Luxor" with an area of 54,000 sq m. Next in size comes the project for vacation complex "Bojurland" in which the total area of the houses will reach some 30,000 sq m. However, most numerous are the buildings with an area of around 3,000 sq m, while the smallest projects are for an up to 1,000 sq m area each. The focus has been laid on the construction of residential buildings, of residential complexes and vacation compounds which have also proved to be the fastest-moving product in Bansko during the year. The projects for new construction works in the town are more than 30, with some of them being in a more advanced stage, while others are still in the stage of "first sod". Unlike vacation lodgings the construction of hotels is much more modest. Despite that, the number of beds in Bansko for the season comes up to 4,800 as against 3,000 at the beginning of the previous winter season. Gradually, with the opening of the hotels currently being built, the capacity of the town is expected to increase up to 10,000 beds. By the end of the year another four sites are expected to become operational. The speedy development of the resort underlies the need of new commercial sites. For this reason two completely commercial buildings are being built in Bansko. On their completion the sites will offer nearly 2,500 sq m of shops, restaurants, cafes, etc. Due to the enormous investors' interest in Bansko the prices of land in the town and its environs in the last year have grown considerably. And if at the end of last year deals with real estate in proximity to the cable car line were completed at prices of between 90 and 120 euro per sq m, prices in this particularly preferred region by investors range up to 250 euro per sq m. Although the active winter tourist season is starting, construction is gaining momentum in Bansko. Construction works on two new sites officially began during the past month alone. A big quantity of construction machines has been concentrated in the town and the winter conditions will be no obstacle for continuing constructiuon works. However, this would definitely be to the detriment of tourists who have decided to visit Bansko and particularly so to those who have invested in the purchase of own vacation home. This is why to evade what happened along the Black sea coast the municipality has decided to impose a moratorium on construction works in the months to come. This will be carried out by an order of Bansko mayor Alexander Kravarov which will take effect from December 15, 2004. Under the order excavation works for new hotel and vacation compounds will be prohibited, the aim being to restrict the traffic of the big heavy-duty trucks along main road arteries leading to the starting station of the cable-car line. see source
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