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Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
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Czech Republic: More bright years ahead
Czech Republic joined the European Union this spring and its government is hurrying ahead to join by late 2007 another elite club, those of EU Schengen area, which allows free movement of persons across national borders. Waiting for this to become reality, the Czech economy is using at full the new opportunities arising from the EU membership, having effect on real estate market development. The economy is doing very well compared to poor performances among some West European countries. Just to illustrate some of these trends, the industry has expanded last year by almost 13%, and what has an even greater impact on the real estate market is that the average wages have reached $600 a month, not a bad result for a country that started market reforms in 1989 with $100 monthly salaries. In parallel with this excellent economic news, the consumer prices remain more or less under control below 3%, allowing the banks to be more flexible with cheaper mortgage loans. Among the banks that lead the trend is Ceska Sporitelna that have increased its lending portfolio by more than 30% during last 12 months. Debtors are predominantly people from rising Czech middle class, which are allowed to serve their loans with as high as 50% of their monthly incomes. When we look at the good economic performances we shouldn't forget about the still unresolved problems. Among those are the budget and trade deficits that should be kept under control, otherwise this may lead to currency devaluation or higher mortgage rates, both being nightmares for any investor. The real estate market in the Czech Republic is following the good economic performances. If during 1990's the prices in Prague have risen by 10-20% each year, since 2001 after a brief period of stagnation the trend has become more robust, reaching 30-40% annual appreciation. In the Czech capital city the prices standing at more than $2,000/sq.m are already comparable with EU average levels. Given the small amount of new residential developments and the higher demand by the new middle class, the upward trends may keep for 5-10 more years, although not at the same phenomenal rate.
Czech Republic country profile: --------------------
See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Czech Republic.
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