Days after real estate investment trust Equest Balkan Properties announced that it would sell some of its assets in Bulgaria and other neighbouring countries, it announced that it had sold the former Hotel Serdika to Uniqa Real Estate, the real estate subsidiary of Austrian insurer Uniqa, Dnevnik daily reported on May 15. read more

Poor infrastructure, polluted beaches, low standards of construction, noisy building sites, poor service and bankruptcies will put Bulgaria's Black Sea resorts under pressure this summer, British newspaper The Telegraph reported on May 9. Problems with the power supply, refuse waters and pollution have persisted last summer and have made an appearance this year already, although the tourist season is yet to start properly, the paper said. read more

Over the past two years, Greece has staged a “real onslaught” onto the Bulgarian and other Balkan markets, Greek business newspaper Imerisia reported on May 7. Greek construction companies, mainly from the northern part of the country, have been building large residential, office and retail developments in Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and, recently, Macedonia. read more

Investment fund Equest Balkan Properties plc (EBP) was considering the sale of the first shopping mall in Bulgaria, City Centre Sofia, Investor.bg quoted Naomi Kora, relations manager for the fund’s investors, on May 1 2008. Furthermore EBP was also considering the sale of Serdika Forum, former Serdika hotel in downtown Sofia at Vassil Levski monument, and another project in Belgrade. read more

Romanian daily Ziarul Financiar reported that several foreign investors in Romania who had bought apartments in early stages of development, were putting those apartments up for sale at a significant profit even before construction had finished. read more

Construction in the Slunchev bryag (Sunny Beach) coastal resort could not be halted on May 1, Focus news agency said. Recently, the union of hotel owners in the resort demanded that heavy construction equipment be removed from the complex before May 1 because the first tourists are due to arrive at the beginning of the month. read more

According to data published by Globalpropertyguide.com, house price increases in Europe over the past year ending in Q4 of 2007, were highest in Bulgaria. Bulgarian houses increased by 34.61 per cent, closely followed by Poland with a 33 per cent increase. read more

ECE Projectmanagement Bulgaria, the Bulgarian arm of German developer ECE, will shortly launch construction on its 40-storey Europe Tower, company manager Plamen Ilchev told Mediapool.bg. The 180m building, to be erected in Sofia, will be the highest in Bulgaria and is due for completion in 2010. The investor, however, is yet to find a contractor to implement the project. read more

The Romanian government has only just started to involve itself in the green building concept but the new attitudes are gaining momentum. A host of Romanian public administration officials took the floor during the second and closing day of the Build Green CEE conference in Bucharest, Romania. read more

Buildings account for 37 per cent of overall energy consumption. In fact, buildings and transport collectively emit 50 per cent of overall green emissions, participants in the Building Green CEE: Energy Efficient and Ecological Design for the Region conference concluded at the opening panel on April 23. The two-day conference, ending on April 24, is taking place in Bucharest, Romania. Participants agreed that constructing "green" buildings is an essential element of an overall strategy to reduce growing energy consumption and greenhouse emissions, both identified as the main drivers of climate change. read more