CB Richard Ellis executive director for central and eastern Europe, Colin Wadell,  has said in interview that "Sofia has recently transpired as one of the busiest capitals in the European Union", Stroitelstvo Gradut reports.

According to Colin Wadell, one of the major concern behind the complications in the real estate market in Bulgaria is its relative small size and low liquidity. This is a main contributing fact behind the smaller transactions on the domestic market. Wadell uses for comparison the situation in the United Kingdom for instance, where  according to him, "the first crisis changes occurred there".

Unlike in Bulgaria, in the UK, the market is very liquid, thus the price deviations had occurred very  quickly as a reaction to the current financial crisis, and they are also likely to continue to do so in the future" Wadell said.

"Prices in the UK registered a substantial plunge, which occurred on a relative short period of  time, some  of the funds lost billions but we expect them to recover fast. Consequently, in spite of the current financial stagnation and the grim effects from the crisis,  the United Kingdom actually  is a very attractive destination for investments".

He reckons however that in Europe the developments are taking a considerably longer period of time to adjust properly to the environment. The markets have a substantially lower liquidity and the corrections, accordingly, will take more time in the process. Some investors for instance have been gravitated to the "stability and predictability" of the German market "which is subsequently as a result of the stable economic situation in the country".

In Bulgaria, funds and investors currently lack abundant financial resources at a ready disposal, have limited capital for investments and banks accordingly are very cautious in releasing crediting which creates further obstacles for the market. Some investments in Eastern Europe can guarantee access to a bigger property at a superior location, thus generating substantially higher yields.

Investors continue to be interested in office space with strategic location allowing for a lot of rental space, but they are searching for cheaper and more reasonable prices.

propertywisebulgaria.