baynews9.com - New EU members Romania, Bulgaria See Construction Boom
New EU members Romania, Bulgaria See Construction Boom
Buzesti Street used to be one of the shabbiest parts of Bucharest with crumbling, Communist-era structures and one of the city's roughest markets. Now, gleaming multistory buildings have turned the area into one of the capital's new business centers _ testimony to a property boom sweeping Romania and Bulgaria, the newest members of the European Union.
Prices for apartments in Bulgaria increased by an average of 15 to 20 percent in 2006. In Romania, values rose at an average of 8 to 10 percent. But in some parts of Bucharest and Sofia, the increases are much higher, with rates of return on investments among the highest in Europe. Last year, 80,000 people in Romania and 31,000 people in Bulgaria also signed up for mortgages. Interest rates in both countries range from 7 to 9 percent.
