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Follow on Google News | Bratislava Likely To Benefit from Schengen Zone ExtensionPropertastic! today announced that it believes that property prices in Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava, are likely to increase rapidly as a result of the country’s joining the borderless travel Schengen zone on 1 January 2008.
By: Propertastic! The Schengen area constitutes a border-free travel zone within the EU among the old member states, with the exception of Great Britain and Ireland. Non-EU countries, such as Norway, Iceland and Switzerland are also included in the Schengen zone. In August it was announced that the first four Eastern European nations will be joining the Schengen zone from the start of next year – Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia - meaning that it will be no longer necessary to wait at the border of each country in order to present documents and undergo customs inspections. Although this is likely to have little effect upon property prices upon property prices across much of the four new entry countries, Propertastic! Although the city centres of Bratislava and Vienna are only 35 miles (56km) apart, there is a huge difference in property prices between the two capitals, with prime city centre property in Vienna currently fetching EUR3500 per square metre compared with only EUR1750 in Bratislava. Propertastic! “Even without entering the Schengen zone, Bratislava’s prospects were looking great already, with Slovakia’s low taxes attracting a lot of inward investment into the country such as Kia, leading the country to be dubbed ‘the Tatran Tiger’. Add to this the fact that prices are still among the cheapest in Europe while rental yields are among the highest and that Slovakia is currently on schedule to adopt the Euro in 2009 and it’s hard to find a single negative about the city.” After lagging behind other fast-moving property markets in eastern European capitals such as Riga, Tallinn and Warsaw, which all saw growth of up to 60% in 2006, Bratislava is now starting to catch up fast, with The Slovak Spectator reporting that prices increased by 20% in the first half of 2007. “Currently it appears as if few people are talking about the opportunities presented by Slovakia’s entry into the Schengen zone, but this situation will not last for long,” Pendrell continued. “Luxury properties on the west side of the Danube which have the easiest access to Vienna are likely to be the main beneficiaries of the new open-border area.” # # # Propertastic! Website: www.propertastic.com End
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