Bulgaria property prices up 2% signalling recovery

After years of being more or less in the doldrums, Bulgaria’s property market is showing green shoots of recovery in 2014 with property prices rising for the first time since the global real estate crisis.

Bulgaria’s National Statistical Institute recently published a report showing an increase of 1.79% in home prices during the first quarter of the year and an increase of 2% in the second quarter, compared with the same period last year.

Polina Stoykova, Chief Operations Manager of Bulgarian Properties said: “Data from Bulgaria’s National Statistical Institute shows an increase of 1.79% in home prices during the first quarter of 2014 over the previous year; the second quarter had an increase of 2%. The biggest cities in the country, such as the capital Sofia and Plovdiv, have seen the biggest increases in home prices.”

“Foreign buyers, most of whom are seeking vacation apartments or houses, tend to be attracted to the Black Sea coast, in particular the cities of Varna and Burgas, followed by Ski resorts such as Pamporovo and Borovets. The capital Sofia is the third preferred region or area for foreign buyers with higher-priced properties than the Black Sea coast and the ski resorts.”

Sea-front locations remain popular for foreign buyers, according to real estate agents. There is a search for first-line beach houses, which due to the building restrictions in Bulgaria and the rarity of beach topography makes their prices high, they added.

Russian buyers are still in the majority in Bulgaria with the Brits returning to the market they fuelled to boiling point from 2000 to 2008. Foreign interest in Bulgarian properties also comes from Germany, France, Holland, Belgium, Ukraine,Scandinavia, the United States, Canada, Australia and South Africa.

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