23.08.2008

Sofia Office Space Market with Promising Future


The gross domestic product of Bulgaria registered a seven per cent increase during the first quarter of 2008, thus defying economy experts’ forecasts for an overall slowdown and the effects of the global credit crisis.

According to the Sofia office market overview for the first half of 2008 published by the real estate consultants CB Richard Ellis, Bulgaria remains attractive to international companies due to the availability of well-educated and experienced specialists with lower salary expectations compared with Central and Eastern Europe, Western Europe and the US, along with low corporate and personal income taxes.

CB Richard Ellis data shows that the completion of office space in the first half of 2008 at levels of over 87 per cent of all completions in 2006 and 58 per cent of all completions in 2007 has set a new a record for the country.

As result of the increased construction volume, Sofia has currently a modern office reserve of nearly 808,000 square meters and the number will continue to grow since an additional 250,000 square meters are scheduled to be completed by the end of the year.

The experts from CB Richard Ellis, however, doubts that all announced office projects will actually enter the market by the end of the year. Their prognosis is for 150 000 square meters to actually enter the market by the end of the year with another 500 000 square meters expected by the end of 2010.

According to the report, Sofia’s office market will continue to develop actively at least in the next two to three years.



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