photo credit: Simon Davison

Bulgaria’s golf tourism industry could be on the verge of a boom period according to comments from the country’s tourism chief. Krassimir Gergov said around €300 million (£236 million) could be poured into the sector if the state can free up plots for private property investment.

Quoted by The Move Channel, he explained the country was looking to vast sums of money made from similar moves in Turkey. He said:

“If in 5 years golf courses are not built on the plots provided by the state, such plots would be automatically recalled. In Turkey, the yearly profit from a golf course is over €5 million.

“There is a strong possibility that the same profit can be obtained in Bulgaria.”

In 2001 the Bulgarian Golf Association was formed, and in April this year revealed it had won a grant for its junior programme from the Ryder Cup European Development Trust Board. John Yapp, company secretary of the board, said ‘excellent’ reports and progress made in Bulgarian golf in 2007 led to the association winning the cash.

According to VisitBulgaria.net, around 19 courses are now in construction in Bulgaria, whereas until recently there were just three active courses. Around 56 million people play golf worldwide, with ten million of them based in Europe.

UK city Southampton has been named one of the year’s major property investment hot spots by a leading consultancy. Property for life says the city’s property investment market is still buoyant despite the sector flattening out in other areas.

Developer Inner Circle Homes has just launched a project near Southampton’s marina and claimed demand for property in the area was as “strong as ever”. The firm’s development director Stephen Friel said:

“It’s buoyed by the growing demand from those who prefer to rent as a lifestyle choice.

“We anticipate that rental yields will be high and investors will be able to let the properties fairly quickly.”

Founded in 2003, Inner Circle Homes established itself as a provider of high quality new homes for sale, combining innovative design with build quality. Property for life sources new homes for sale for property investors and gains discounts of up to 30 per cent below market value by buying in bulk.

Southampton is home to two universities and has a large student population. It remains popular with wealthy yachting enthusiasts from London and abroad, and has ferry links to the Isle of Wight.

UK house prices have dropped by 2.5 per cent in May and are now 4.4 per cent lower than this time last year, according to Nationwide. The firm’s latest monthly survey shows the average price of a house is now £173,583, £8,000 less than May 2007.

May also saw the speed of the drop increase, with the slump now the longest consecutive period of monthly falls since 1990. Nationwide’s Chief Economist Fionnuala Earley attempted to offer some reassurance for owners, saying:

“A further fall in house prices in May was not unexpected, and for most of those not wishing to move house or borrow money secured on it, the fall in value of their home is likely to be of limited concern in the short term.

“Current market conditions inevitably lead to comparisons with the last episode of falling prices. However, there are a number of reasons to believe that today’s borrowers are better placed to weather the storm than in the 1990s.”

She added fewer homeowners have bought at the top of the market during the current cycle and pointed out today’s borrowers have typically put down a larger deposit than their 1980s counterparts.

Despite the falling numbers, house prices are still five per cent higher than in May 2006 and are 10 per cent higher than in May 2005. Earlier this month experts said many first-time buyers and new property investors were holding back on buying property to see what the market does next.