Property transaction in Bulgaria continue to rise

World Bank to lend Romania $180m for infrastructure improvements

Japanese firm to build LCD plant in western Poland

France to accept all Bulgarian and Romanian workers by 2009

U.S. Industrial market remains tight

Property auction house to open in Dubai

Shanghai property sales fall 20%

Beijing to deliver more affordable homes

Average property prices in Auckland pass $500,000 mark

Property transaction in Bulgaria continue to rise

Bulgarian estate agents suggest that in the region of 261,000 property transaction will have taken place by the end of 2006.

If accurate, this number of property dealings, which was reported by agents during a Southeast European economic forum, would represent a reported 122% increase compared to sales figures for 2001.

World Bank to lend Romania $180m for infrastructure improvements  

The World Bank's board of executive directors have approved a $180m loan to Romania for a Transport Sector Support Project. The loan will contribute to financing a $225m Infrastructure Maintenance Program for roads and railways. The proposed project has been prepared within the framework of the Country Partnership Strategy for Romania, under which the Bank is committed to support the competitiveness of the Romanian economy, in order to be fully integrated in the EU open market within the shortest possible timeframe.

The state of Romania’s existing infrastructure represents a key challenge for convergence and integration with EU member states. The quality of road and rail infrastructure in Romania is currently well below EU standards.  

The objective of the Transport Sector Support Project is to reduce transport costs through the improvement of the overall quality of the national roads and railway networks during the first years of EU accession.  

The project consists of two components: road sector support, and railway sector support. The road sector component includes increasing the percentage of national roads in good condition and providing sustainable funding for road maintenance.  

For the railway sector, activities will include decreasing the number of hazard locations and the proportion of sections on the main lines subject to temporary speed restrictions, through the repair and rehabilitation of track infrastructure.  

Since 1990, the World Bank has lent $5bn to Romania.

Japanese firm to build LCD plant in western Poland

Japan 's Funai Electric Co. Ltd. will invest $60m building a liquid crystal display (LCD) TV plant in Poland to strengthen its position in Europe. The plant will be located in Nowa Sol in western Poland, which is roughly half way between Wroclaw and Poznan, and will start production in June 2007. The plant is expected to produce 100,000 units per month but this will double by the following year, when the factory will employ around 1,000 workers.

France to accept all Bulgarian and Romanian workers by 2009

France will partially open its labour market for workers from Bulgaria and Romania, once the two countries join the EU on 1 January 2007. Similar to its model for the 2004 EU entrants, after a specified transition period, the French government is going to move towards progressive and controlled opening of the local labour market.

In May 2006, two years after the accession of 10 new union members, Paris enabled the free access of foreign workers to seven economic sectors, including construction, agriculture and hospitality. Using the same model, Bulgarian and Romanian workers are expected to have free access to the French labour market in 2009.

According to the Sofia Echo, Italy and Spain are the two EU countries that Bulgarian migrant workers have preference for but both countries are expected to delay their free movement until 2009 also.

U.S. Industrial market remains tight

The industrial market in the United States tightened again during the third quarter of 2006, according to Grubb & Ellis' third quarter U.S. Industrial Market First Look report.

Property auction house to open in Dubai

International auction groups, Auction Alliance and DoveBid have combined forces to form a new property auction house based in Dubai Media City, called Auction Alliance Middle East based.

smail Hendricks, Middle East General Manager, comments: “The property market has all the right ingredients for us to roll out the Auction Alliance service offering which specialises in commercial, residential and vacant land auction sales.”

Shanghai property sales fall 20%

Sales of new apartments in Shanghai fell by 20% last month, partly because a pension fund scandal damaged confidence.

Developers sold new apartments totalling 1m sqm in Shanghai in October, compared with 1.25m sqm sold in September, according to statistics from the Shanghai Real Estate Exchange.

Wayne Zane of Colliers International in Shanghai said: "Instability of the city's management hurts investors' confidence in the property market."

He added: "Property prices will continue to decline as a result of market adjustment."

China 's central government continues to tighten controls on property investment and price increases to prevent the world's fastest-growing major economy from overheating.

Beijing to deliver more affordable homes

 Beijing plans to build 110,000 affordable homes by the end of 2007, according to an official report.

The Beijing Housing Construction Plan for 2006-2010 says that in total Beijing will provide 210,000 affordable housing units over the next few years to meet the housing demands of a vast number of middle and low income families.

Average property prices in Auckland pass $500,000 mark

Average residential property prices in Auckland, New Zealand now stand at $502,297 (£176,297), according to the city's largest estate agents Barfoot & Thompson.

Peter Thompson of Barfoot & Thompson, said: "Spring has seen a huge increase in activity and that's being reflected in higher prices. There's been a noticeable increase in buyer inquiry over the past month and a corresponding increase in the number of potential buyers registering for our upcoming auctions. The busy market is being experienced across all price ranges."