Some Bulgarian developers not providing facilities promised
An increasing number of British property buyers were displeased with their newly purchased properties in Bulgaria, which failed to meet expectations, reported the Sofia Echo.
Some buyers at one ski resort in Pamporovo were assured the development would be graded a five-star complex, but after completion, it was rated only three and a half stars.
Another UK buyer was promised spa bath, sauna and games room, but all were missing on completion.
The Echo reported that such cases are becoming ‘increasingly common’ when people buy properties that are still under construction.
Construction of new subway line started in Kiev
Kiev ’s mayor Leonid Chernovetskyi has approved the construction of a new subway line stopping at Lybidska station and the Vystavkovyi Central station. Kiev currently has three subway lines and 45 stations. About 1.5m passengers use the subway everyday.
The new subway line will take about one hour to cross the city from the South to the West.
New Logistics Park to be built in northwest Prague
A logistics park costing over €70m will be built on the northwest edge of Prague at the Jeneč entrance to the future R6 expressway.
Skanska Property plans to begin with the construction and leasing of the first building this year. Within five years, it plans to have built up to 170,000sqm of storage space. The town of Jeneč has approved the project and a planning permit was issued at the beginning of the year, but Skanska Property is still in the process of securing the construction permit. King Sturge has been assigned to lease the halls.
Located on a 42-hectare plot 14km from Prague, the site could take up to eight buildings ranging in size from 1,500sqm to over 40,000sqm. The buildings can offer one or two-sided loading space and offices built to tenant specs, and the park will provide services such as visitor parking, a filling station and a restaurant.
The R6 Logistics Park will offer direct connection to the R6 and to the Karlovy Vary highway. “We want to build a rail station that will be connected with 80% of the area”, says Radka Nováková of Skanska Property.
The R6 connection to Karlovy Vary is expected to be completed by the end of 2008. By 2015 it’s expected that a station on the fast rail connection between Prague and Kladno would be completed at Jeneč.
Turkish underground railway to be longest in the world
An underground system that will connect Asia and Europe underneath the Marmara Sea, in Turkey will be 76km long. Ender Kurt, chairman of Istanbul Port and Marmaray Sea Working Group, said that the tube E-11 was submerged at 6.30 p.m. on 24 March 2007.
The budget for the Marmaray Rail Tube Tunnel project is £1.88bn. In 2006, £200m was spent and this year another £80m will be spent on the project, which is expected to be finished by 2009.
The Marmaray Project includes construction of a Marmaray Rail Tube Tunnel and Commuter Rail Mass Transit System in Istanbul. The project provides an upgrading of the commuter rail system in Istanbul, connecting Halkali on the European side with Gebze on the Asian side.
EIB to lend €50m to improve roads in Bosnia and Herzegovina
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending €50m for the rehabilitation of roads in Bosnia and Herzegovina, following a previous loan of €40m signed in 2006. The new loan will support pavement rehabilitation, overlays and strengthening and ancillary works on the main and regional road network in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
After evaluating the entire road network in the county, and assessing the condition of the roads and taking into account the highest traffic volumes, the loan will pay for improvements to 1,184km of the busiest roads that are in most need of repair.
The EIB loans will finance 50% of the total costs of the road projects, while the balance will be co-financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank.
Direct train planned from Berlin through heart of Russia
Russian Railways is planning to build a direct train line between Berlin and Irkutsk in southeast Russia. At present, the longest direct train journey from Western Europe leaves Berlin on Saturdays and arrives in the Siberian capital Novosibirsk on Wednesdays, German rail operator Deutsche Bahn said. The trip takes almost four days and covers around 5,000km.
Russian Railways, or RZD, is planning a new route from the German capital to Irkutsk, one of the largest cities in Siberia, situated near Lake Baikal. It is about 1,800km east of Novosibirsk by rail. The journey could take up to 30 hours longer than the Berlin-Novosibirsk route, a spokesman for RZD said.
Travellers can also get to Irkutsk on the Trans-Siberian Railway.
South Korean developer in Dubai Culture Village deal
South Korean property developer and construction firm Sungwon Corporation will invest Dh1.83bn (£253m) in a residential and commercial project in Dubai’s Culture Village.
The twin tower project will offer a 32-storey office tower and a 40-storey residential block, linked by a shopping podium.
Richard Lee, the Dubai-based vice president of Sungwon, said the project will be officially launched later this month, with Sungwon taking on both project development and construction work. “Overall the project will account for 40 per cent of the entire office space in Culture Village and will offer more than 400 luxury apartments”, Lee said.
Prices for the 195 residential units range from Dh618,000 (£85,000) for a studio to Dh20m (£2.7m) for a penthouse. This will be Sungwon’s second venture in Dubai, following the launch of the Dh400m (£55m) Santevill residential tower in Business Bay.
Worldwide News
Possible over-supply of up to 7000 units a year in Dubai
The projected expansion in Dubai’s population will create demand for more than 43,000 additional residential units annually through to 2010, according to the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI).
However, EFG-Hermes investment bank estimates that between 40,000 and 50,000 units will be supplied annually in Dubai during the same period. Any year that produces close to 50,000 new units could result in an over-supply running into thousands.
Based on current growth rates, by the year 2010, the Dubai population is projected to be 1.845m - an increase of 432,000 people between 2006 and 2010. This gives an annual increase of 108,000 during a period of four years.
If Dubai is compared against international standards where a residential unit accommodates 2.5 persons, the emirate needs 43,233 additional residential units annually to accommodate them, the DCCI stated in its report titled Demand Prospects of Dubai Real Estate.
House prices continue to rise in major Canadian markets
Canada ’s housing market got off to a positive start in 2007 with average prices rising in all major markets, according to Royal LePage Real Estate Services.
It says a combination of consumer confidence, moderately low interest rates and improved affordability led to greater sales in the first quarter.
Royal LePage says the highest average price appreciation was in standard apartments, which rose 16.3% to $230,146 (£116,782) year-on-year. Detached bungalow prices rose 14.9% to an average $316,993 (£160,836) and standard two-storey properties increased 11.8% in price to $378,148 (£191,970).
Western Canada continued to out-perform the rest of the country. Fuelled by the energy sector, Alberta’s economy showed high price appreciation and that spilled over into Saskatchewan. Year-on-year apartment prices rose 72.1% in Edmonton, 38.9% in Calgary and 42.9% in Saskatoon.
Californian home sales fall in February
The Californian Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) reports that home sales decreased 9.6% in February in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home increased 5.7%.
Sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totalled 464,560 in February, according to information collected by C.A.R. from more than 90 local estate agents. State-wide home resale activity decreased 9.6% from the 513,740 sales recorded in February 2006.
The average price of an existing, single-family detached home in California during February 2007 was $564,700 (£286,796), a 5.7% increase over the $534,400 (£271,328) median for February 2006.
Thirty-year fixed-mortgage interest rates averaged 6.29% during February 2007, compared with 6.25% in February 2006. Adjustable-mortgage interest rates averaged 5.51% in February 2007 compared with 5.34% in February 2006.
The average number of days it took to sell a home was 70 days in February 2007, compared with 53 days for the same period a year ago.
South African property continued to grow in 2006
The South African commercial property market achieved total returns of 26.7% in 2006, the second highest annual return since the start of the index in 1995, but was below the 2005 overall property return, which was at 30.1%, signalling a levelling of the property cycle. These results were released by Investment Property Databank (IPD).
Managing director of IPD South Africa, Stan Garrun said: “The three-year annualised return for commercial property is 26.7%, equivalent to the total return of 2006, and the five-year annualised return is a sturdy 20.8%.”
Returns were buoyed by capital growth of 16.2%, which compares to 18.2% in 2005. The income return was 9.2%, down from 10.2% in 2005. Capital growth was driven by strong net income growth of 11.4% (the highest since 1997). Vacancies have continued to fall on the back of increasing demand and were down to 4.2% for total property at the end of 2006.
For the second consecutive year, the industrial sector has led the way with a return of 31.1%. Retail slipped from 32.6% in 2005 to a lower 27.4%. The office sector lagged as has been the pattern over the last five years, with a total return of 24.5%.
Manhattan residential market in bloom
Manhattan ’s residential market was strong in the first three months of 2007, according to a report released by appraisal firm Miller Samuel. The report found there was a 73% increase in the number of sales in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2006, with 3,474 units selling, up from 2,005 in Q1 2006. The number of sales was also up 42% from the previous quarter, and the average sale price rose 5.4%.
Bonus money and the normal increase in sales activity following the winter holidays contributed to the figures. Jonathan Miller, president and CEO of Miller Samuel, says sales are expected to stay at or above current levels in the second quarter.
Units also spent less time on the market this quarter than in the first quarter of 2006, selling an average of one week faster, at 131 days.
However prices remained relatively static. The average sales price decreased 0.8% to $1,290,391 (£653,890), compared to a year earlier.
