 Poster: A snowHead
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British home buyers have disappeared from the Bulgarian ski resort Bansko, according to Sofia-based estate agents. Apparently, since the global credit crunch took hold, purchases by UK investors of Bulgarian properties priced between €45,000 (£33,500) and €90,000 have fallen sharply. According to one agent, only about 30 apartments were sold in Bansko last month and the buyers were Russians and Greeks. This compares with sales 2 years ago of more than 500 properties a month to UK and Irish buyers....Property developers have been offering discounts of 8-12 per cent in buildings nearing completion in Bansko.
Source: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/93d152d8-d66a-11dc-b9f4-0000779fd2ac.html
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Not just Bulgaria, it is the same in Haute-Savoie where an agent in the market has told me that prices are 10-15% off the highs of 2006. He said that the fall of the pound from around 1.50 in the late summer to 1.35 today as well as the difficulty in obtaining loans (French banks have gone from offering 90% to 70%, pricing in a potential 25% price drop) had made things quite pricey for Brits and French buyers alike.
Mervyn King has hinted that he wants the £ to devalue another 10% over 2008. Where my parents live there are some "distressed" OAPs who are finding their pensions stretched. Still look at another way, the £ was overvalued over the last 4 years and should be more around the 1.2 - 1.25 mark.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Similar story in the Savoie I believe. The new Intrawest development in Les Arcs will happen at a slower pace because of reduced market interest.
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A fall is inevitable as the exchange rate gets worse but to be honest in the case of Bulgaria there are also oversupply issues I'd guess so the fall in sales might be affected by that as well. We were approached by developers at the Ski Show back in October and when you actually took off the rose tinted spectacles and looked at what was available it was clear that the resorts didn't offer that much (at least for me with most terrain being intermediate) and property was being developed and sold at an unsustainable rate.
As davidof says banks and building societies tightening their belts is hardly going to help either.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| rob@rar wrote: |
| Similar story in the Savoie I believe. The new Intrawest development in Les Arcs will happen at a slower pace because of reduced market interest. |
Still if this season is anything to go buy people in the 1800m+ resorts should have a good medium term future.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| davidof wrote: |
| rob@rar wrote: |
| Similar story in the Savoie I believe. The new Intrawest development in Les Arcs will happen at a slower pace because of reduced market interest. |
Still if this season is anything to go buy people in the 1800m+ resorts should have a good medium term future. |
I hope 
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of course I mean go by... not go buy... doh!
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So the Bulgarian slowdown is nothing to do with the feedback from unhappy previous customers still waiting for their infrastructure to be built?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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And the fact that they really are starting to take the pee with the prices!
You can only push them up to a certain level otherwise people will look elsewhere for better amenities and facilities for the same financial outlay!
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| davidof wrote: |
Mervyn King has hinted that he wants the £ to devalue another 10% over 2008. Where my parents live there are some "distressed" OAPs who are finding their pensions stretched. Still look at another way, the £ was overvalued over the last 4 years and should be more around the 1.2 - 1.25 mark. |
We should have joined the euro at the beginning, when the rate was 1.66, how much cheaper would skiing be now
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| davidof wrote: |
| .............Mervyn King has hinted that he wants the £ to devalue another 10% over 2008. Where my parents live there are some "distressed" OAPs who are finding their pensions stretched. Still look at another way, the £ was overvalued over the last 4 years and should be more around the 1.2 - 1.25 mark. |
Probably correct. Further devaluation will help tourism (a major income generator) from both visitors and and UK residents. Let's hope Scottish snow continues to be good.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Maybe people woke up to the fact that Bulgaria is second rate to Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy and North America.
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I went to Bansko on a viewing trip last August, with a serious interest in buying a place. Investor types who did not have a clue about Alpine resorts were buying them in lots of 3 or 4 believing all the BS they were being told. The people who had skied before and have had experience of how a winter resort runs were looking on in amazement.
My question was quite simple 'if this resort plans to build 40,000 beds, which is what you have told us, how can the ski area possibly sustain this as there is only one gondola which takes you up to the ski area from the resort'. I never did get a satisfactory reply to that question and they did not even bother trying the hard sell on me.
Although after saying that, if you buy in the right area and complex, it might be OK in say 10 years time, but it is a huge gamble and there certainly is not a fast buck to be made.
IMHO 3/4 of the resort will be a ghost town for 48 weeks of the year.
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You know it makes sense.
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It's hardly surprising. There are only so many Daily Mail readers out there and they must have all bought an apartment there by now! Anyone else remember all those articles a few years ago hyping the place up. Articles sponsored by major developers no doubt. We looked at Bansko a few years back ourselves for a possible cheap investment, mainly because my wife is Bulgarian. She spoke to a few local contacts she had and they all advised us to stay clear. Massive over-supply and poor planning controls are the main issues there. The Bulgarian economy is simply not strong enough to support this kind of growth. The only people getting rich out there are the developers who managed to sell thousands of apartments off plan.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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If you want a really good larf, have a read of this lot http://talkbansko.6.forumer.com/index.php. It's a forum for owners, the level of 'denial' is staggering. There appears to be a couple of guys telling it as it is and they're being ravaged by the rose tinted spec brigade.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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It's very public spirited of them to sell at below the market price, I must say.
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FAQ
