Sofias Suburban Areas Are Gaining Ground

The lack of empty construction plots in Sofia and the resulting high prices are driving investors beyond the city boundaries to suburban areas in search of available building space, Kapital weekly reported.

Unsurprisingly, the capital is the most densely populated and built-up area in the country, whereas suburban villages in Sofia region are one of the country's most sparsely inhabited areas.

But prompted by lack of available land for construction, as well as the desire to escape urban congestion and noise, many investors have set their sights on areas around Sofia in recent months.

According to the provisions of Sofia’s new master plan, in 15 years’ time about one third of Sofians will live in the city’s suburban areas and villages, Kapital weekly commented. The new zoning concept favours development to the north and Sofia’ s chief architect Petar Dikov has been re-iterating that the north will see a drastic face-lift to emerge as a prime location.

It would thus upstage the luxurious southern neighbourhoods in the foothills of Vitosha Mountain, but this effect was yet to be observed in practice. No plans for large residential compounds have been announced so far and plot prices in northern areas are half the price of those in the south.

Apartments in the Kremikovtzi area are currently on offer for as little as 350 euro a sq m and yet they remain on the market for months before finding a buyer, Anna Mancheva, a consultant in RE/MAX Chance Group said in an interview with Kapital weekly.

The new master plan envisages that areas located west of the Iskur River near the villages of Kutina, Dobroslavtsi and Mramor should all become part of the city. “To date, we cannot talk about construction of low buildings, situated within large distances from each other in these regions because there is virtually no infrastructure and it is unlikely to be developed in the foreseeable future,” Petar Dikov said.

To the south-east of Sofia, the areas around Gorni Lozen, Dolni Lozen and Bistritsa villages are enjoying the keen interest of investors, which has driven up the price of land there by a solid 30 per cent in 2007. Construction land in Gorni Lozen, for instance, has reached 170 euro a sq m.

Pancharevo, Bankya and Bozhurishte are also among buyers’ favourites. Elin Pelin, Pernik and other distant locations are also attractive to customers and developers, because of their good location. They lie close to Sofia-bound main thoroughfares, and are targeted as potential locations by city hall plans to build metro stations and parking hubs, where people could leave their vehicles and proceed on their journey into the city by taking public transport to avoid traffic jams.

Almost every free stretch of land within the city’s boundaries has been earmarked for construction. Experts’ expectations that prices of plots in some outlying neighbourhoods, like Mladost and Obelya, would fall due to the low construction opportunities they offer, failed to materialise.

However, a large number of investors considered a massive expansion to the suburban areas, where space can still be found for developing gated compounds – the new fad among investors. The problem with these areas, however, is that they lack proper infrastructure – roads, water mains and adequate sewerage system, which incurs additional expenses for the developers and lengthens the period of construction. 

 

LOCATION	AVERAGE HOUSE PRICES (euro a sq m)	AVERAGE PLOT PRICES (euro a sq m)
Bankya	901	55
Gorna banya	736	55
Knyazhevo	878	103
Boyana	1031	239
Dragalevtsi	1051	198
Simeonovo	1132	184
Roudartsi	760	33
Zheleznitsa	980	50
Novi Iskur	739	22
Svetovrachene	685	31
Pancharevo	1130	96
Kokalyane	1034	44
Dolni Lozen	756	43-150
Gorni Lozen	773	47-170
Ravno pole	730	29-60
Elin Pelin	595	61
Mousachevo	625	33

According to the provisions of the new master plan, in 15 years’ time about one third of Sofians will live in the city’s suburban areas and villages, Kapital weekly commented.propertywisebulgaria.com