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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.

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• EU internet 2003
  
• EU internet 2003, 2
  
• EU internet 2005
  
• EU internet 2007
  
• EU internet 2008
  

When two years ago I made my principle statements concerning the level of Internet development in the European real estate market, I expected a wave of protests and counter statements. It was for my big surprise that I got none of these. In fact, my audience in Western Europe is reputed to be among the most tolerant in the world. This was an obvious exception given the high level of intolerance and aggression coming from other parts of the world, notorious for their rudimentary market practices. Only recently I was reminded that perhaps my 2-year old statements may be slightly out-of-date, so I was asked to provide the public with up-to-date information about the current situation.

The first impression I got when browsing European real estate sites was that the situation hasn't improved dramatically, although many sites show increased sensitivity toward the online market opportunities. The basic conclusions concerning the lack of multi-language services, the lack of sufficient community information, and of integrated MLS for many countries, all this is relevant until now and doesn't play in favor of the continent nor in favor of those who may be interested in acquiring properties. More sites as percentage look better even much better than 2 years ago and fewer sites require some urgent improvements in order to meet at least some minimal standards of marketing tools, e.g. the presence of clearly identifiable contact information.

An interesting trend that didn't exist 2 years ago, as far as the reviewed sites then were concerned, is the growing understanding of the importance of retirees as a strong force that can influence the market in these times of economic uncertainty and growing unemployment. The growing number of persons that are "55 and better" and flee their countries in search for better values and better climates has indicated that these millions shouldn't be taken as granted by their countries of origin.

There is an understanding that the specialized real estate sites must turn attention toward these buyers. The problems that face these agents are twofold. On the one hand, Europe unlike most parts of North America isn't linguistically homogenous. Many sites are predominantly in one language, making them beyond the reach of many potential customers, no matter how useful is the information they offer. On the other hand, the retired persons or the persons near retirement are exactly those who have been underrepresented among the online audience for so many years. It isn't only about bringing the information to them, but also about bringing them closer to the Internet, a media that for some of them is still a needless pastime they associate with their children and grandchildren.

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