Polina Stoykova, Chief Operations Manager of BULGARIAN PROPERTIES: 2012 is the year of holiday and rural properties

For the first time in last few years, what we saw this year did not surprise us, Polina Stoykova, Chief Operations Manager of BULGARIAN PROPERTIES, commented on the real estate market for this year in an interview for Profit.TV

There were no significant changes on the market in all segments with the exception of positive news coming from holiday homes and rural houses segments, where there is larger foreign interest.

Otherwise, in general the market has retained stability. We see that the decline in property prices is fading away and even there were quarterly fluctuations and a slight growth.

In general terms, the year is ending quietly and with a slight optimism for the holiday market, which is currently driven mainly by Russian buyers, Stoykova said.

Among the large cities the property market in Sofia was most active and last year's trend for searching of smaller and budget apartments continues. These are properties priced up to 50,000 euro. However they have to meet the criteria of buyers for quality of life and environment. So they must be a very well-balanced choice.

Rural houses have lost the most of their value together with holiday apartments after their main buyers - British had withdrawn. In the third quarter 2012 we reported movements on the market and a significant growth in the number of deals compared to last year. At the heart of this movement were Russian buyers, Stoykova said.

Russians are interested increasingly in rural properties, beside apartments on the sea. There has been seen a trend that more Bulgarians are interested in buying a property for vacation or rest, including those living and working abroad.

There is a great interest in rural houses near the sea, especially in Burgas region. About one third of the total number of deals were concluded in Burgas region this year. What can be said is that there is a supply of quality and repaired houses, which belong to British, who have invested in them. Now these houses are available for sale in very good condition at bargain prices. Such a house can be purchased for 20,000 euro to 40,000 euro.

There is a good supply of properties at lower prices at average about 15,000 euro in the regions of Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, Yambol and Elhovo, Stoykova added.

The most deals were rural and vacation properties this year. There has been seen recovery and even leaving from crisis in this segment. Noticeably more Russian buyers are interested in a property in Bulgaria. Charter flights have increased, visa regime has become easier, which contributes to a successful season, both for tourism and the real estate segment.

In Sofia deals were concluded at an average price of 710 EUR/sq.m. in the third quarter. According to national statistics, the average prices are from 730 euro to 740 euro. So this is the range in which prices vary and they have not been changing very much over the last year.

Changes are in a range of about 5 euro, which is not decisive in choosing a property. This will continue next year. People just want to buy their first home with not a large budget, apply for a smaller loan and finance most part of the property price with their own funds. These are the main trends that we expect to be next year, Stoykova predicts.

We do not expect any significant changes occur on the market, dominated entirely by domestic demand. It is also influenced by the economic recovery, income and unemployment rates, and we see that the forecasts for next year are not much different, expert said.

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