A Bright Outlook for Bulgarian Property
Bulgaria’s property market is officially recovering from the ravages of recession, after recording house price growth over the last three months.
According to brokers, a total of 220,000 property transactions are now completed annually which equates to 19,000 sales per month with an average price of around €50,000, an increase of 15% in July alone.
Most popular properties are 1 and 2 bedroom apartments in city locations with an increasing trend for foreign purchases in popular tourist destinations.
Brokers have also reported an anomalous increase in transaction activity through the summer in the sectors of office space and building plots with construction permits.
Prevailing positive trends on the Bulgarian property market were observed again in August with Bulgaria’s capital Sofia and the largest coastal city of Varna experiencing the most property sales, hitting a record high and supporting optimistic expectations for the second half of the year.
Property prices in Sofia increased 1.13% in August, an annual increase of 0.82% although still a staggering 42% below peak prices in 2007.
In Varna house prices have been increasing rapidly over the last year although August saw the market cooling slightly with a fall in prices of 1.54%. However, over the year and including August results, Varna has seen house prices increase by almost 15% in the last 12 months.
As one of the newest members of the EU, Bulgaria is enjoying a great deal of foreign investment and infrastructure improvement. As in any country, the price of property is linked to the nation’s economic health and with predicted annual GDP growth of 3% through to 2018; Bulgaria is currently looking in very fine form.
Tourism is a significant contributor to Bulgaria’s economy. While the coastal and mountain regions have well-known holiday spots, much of the country remains off the tourist map and this has suppressed prices of property for sale in Bulgaria’s interior.
Some spa towns with Roman attractions have yet to be fully discovered and there are large unexplored regions of great natural beauty that would appeal to tourists wanting more than sun, sand and snow. As awareness grows, the price of property in Bulgaria’s inland areas is forecast to rise significantly.
