[size=75:mkmqhg8q]Sofia echo 29 December 2009

Boom in real estate deals in Sofia before New Year's Eve

The number of real estate deals in Sofia at the end of the year has doubled because of a new law that from January 1 2010 will ban all real estate payments made in cash, Bulgarian-language Trud daily said on December 29 2009.

Up until December 15 2009 the number of real estate deals registered in Sofia was between 300 and 350. In the final two weeks of the year, however, their number rose to 500 a day with the highest rate recorded just before Christmas at 764.

Trud quoted Sofia’s Registry Agency as saying that most of the real estate deals involved buying or selling apartments.

The amendment’s aim, first raised a year ago, is to reduce real estate fraud and money laundering. The move is part of the Justice Ministry’s policy of adopting legislative amendments to a number of laws as a way of reducing corruption and crime as well as ensuring that all fees and taxes owed to the state are paid.

"
Such a boom in real estate deals is not something new at the end of the year. The difference now is that the main reason is the amendment to the Notary Act that as of January 1 2010 will make all payments on real estate deals go through bank transfers and many people who are still part of the ‘grey economy’ are trying to catch the last train,"
Dobromir Ganev, head of Foros real estate agency told Trud.

Tsvetelina Taseva, of Address real estate agency, agreed. "
It is true that many deals have been started earlier in the year and people are just trying to close them before January 1 2010, fearing that the amendment will add to the cost of the deal,"
she said.

Well if nothing else it will start to make things much more transparent, which is how it should be and also there will be less chance of fraud