In 2009 the industrial areas in Sofia increased 22 per cent, from 1,500,000 to 1,830,000 sq m, says an analysis of a consultancy company specialized in business properties which was made available to BTA on Tuesday. The increase of industrial areas in 2008 was 25 per cent.

2009 confirmed the trend whereby construction of industrial areas moves to the outskirts of the city. In 2009 about 83 per cent of the industrial areas under construction were beyond Sofia's ring road.

The most attractive is the area between the Hemus and Trakiya motorways. Seventy-seven per cent of the industrial areas began in the third quarter of 2009 are located in Elin Pelin Municipality between the two motorways.

Demand for industrial areas in Sofia decreased in 2009. The rate of utilization of new areas slowed down by 5 per cent annually. In 2008 a total of 295,000 sq m of such areas were utilized while in 2008 the figure was 280,000 sq m.

Vacant industrial areas in Sofia increased by 15,000 sq m to 65,000 sq m. The quantity of unoccupied areas increased from about one pre cent at the start fo 2009 to 3.6 per cent in the last quarter.

Monthly rents of new industrial areas decreased from 5.5.-6 euros per sq m at the beginning of the year to 4.75-5 euros at the end.

The analysis says that transactions in the land market were fewer in 2009 attributed to the considerable restrictions in bank loans for housing and office property put in place at the end of 2008. The only active buyers on the market are investors with liquid resources looking for under-priced property and some of the big retail chains which continue with their expansions despite the economic downturn.

The prices of regulated lots in 2009 were 20-50 per cent lower than in 2008 but buyers were absent which is attributed to the weak interest in the construction of new buildings, including housing, office, commercial and industrial ones.

Source: BTA