Prices of Rural Houses Down by 53% in a Year

expert.bg, 16.09.2009

The data of BULGARIAN PROPERTIES based on actual concluded deals with rural properties show that their prices have decreased by 53% in 2009 compared to 2008.

The beginning of 2009 saw a decrease in rural property prices, which was the first in the last few years, comments Polina Stoykova, the company's Chief Operations Manager.

BULGARIAN PROPERTIES’ 2009 analyses showed as early as March 2009 that the average price of rural properties decreased by 40% compared to the average price in 2008 and the drop in sales continued till the end of April 2009 and reached 55% compared to the same period of 2008.

May 2009 brought change to the property market which became more dynamic due to the decreased prices which reflected on the rural property segment as well. From May till the end of August the average price of the concluded deals continued to decrease and was 33% lower compared to the period January-April 2009 while the number of deals increased by 35%. The data shows the direct connection between the decrease in prices and the increase in the interest on the part of the buyers.

From January till August 2009 the number of rural property deals decreased by 37% compared to the same period in 2008.

The average price of sold rural properties decreased from 30,800 Euro in 2008 to 19,130 Euro at the end of March 2009, followed by a decrease to 17,650 Euro at the end of April. For the period May-August 2009 the average price of concluded deals with rural properties was 11,950 Euro which is a decrease of 61.2% compared to the average price in 2008.

It is exactly the lower prices that restored the interest of British buyers towards cheap rural properties. The share of these buyers to all foreign clients of BULGARIAN PROPERTIES increased by 10% during the summer months compared to the first months of 2009. However, now it is not only Brits who are now interested in purchasing a rural property in Bulgaria, but also many Bulgarians and people from various nationalities.

The decrease in prices varies for the different regions. The greatest decrease is to be found in the villages around Sofia, Varna, Burgas, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora and Yambol – these are the most attractive areas where in the last few years prices increased considerably and until a few months ago sellers were not willing to lower them. Rural properties around the towns of Vidin and Veliko Tarnovo have retained their levels from 2008 as the increase in property prices started slowing down earlier than in the other regions of the country.

Here is the statistics of BULGARIAN PROPERTIES per regions:

Average prices of concluded rural property deals for the period 5.2009 – 8.2009:

• Villages around capital Sofia – 18,000 Euro – with average price of 29,500 Euro in 2008, decrease 39%
• Varna region – 15,000 Euro, with average price of 31,300 Euro in 2008, decrease 52%
• Bourgas region – 18,500 Euro, with average price of 28,000 Euro in 2008, decrease 34%
• Veliko Tarnovo region – 14,200 Euro – return to levels from 2008
• Yambol region – 6,500 Euro, with average price of 16,300 Euro in 2008, decrease 60%
• Montana region – 3,900 Euro, with average price of 7,850 Euro in 2008, decrease 50%
• Vidin region – 12,400 Euro – retaining level from 2008
• Stara Zagora region – 5,400 Euro, with average price of 15,000 Euro in 2008, decrease 64%
• Plovdiv region – 10,500 Euro, with average price of 17,300 Euro in 2008, decrease 39%
• Kardzhali region – 11,300 Euro, with average price of 24,000 Euro in 2008, decrease 53%

Changes in the average prices of rural properties through the years:

Average prices and change compared to the previous year:
• 2005 – 15,450 Euro +37%
• 2006 – 18,510 Euro +20%
• 2007 – 24,800 Euro +34%
• 2008 – 30,800 Euro +24%
• 2009 – 14,380 Euro – 53% from January till August 2009

Currently, sellers continue to lower the prices of their properties and this process is expected to continue in the next few months. This trend is very clearly shown in BULGARIAN PROPERTIES’ weekly newsletter containing new properties for sale and rent and properties with reduced prices. In the last few weeks the number of properties with reduced prices is almost the same as the number of new ads, sometimes even exceeding it and the price reductions reach as high as 80%.


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