Bulgarian property price decrease ended in 2013 – analysis based on National Statistics data

According to the calculations of BULGARIAN PROPERTIES, based on the data from the National Statistics Institute (NSI) about the apartments' prices in the regional cities in Bulgaria, the property prices in Bulgaria registered a real* annual decline of -0.24% in Q4 of 2013. This change, which almost equals to 0, reveals that the property price decrease in Bulgaria has now finished.

Moreover, the property prices in Sofia have experienced a second consecutive real* annual growth of +2.13%, indicating that the market bottom was reached in late 2012 and early 2013, and that the market in the capital is now recovering. The apartment prices in Plovdiv are going through a similar positive change.

Overall, year 2013 ended with a real* property price decline of -1.8% for the whole country on average, which represents the smallest annual decline since the beginning of the crisis.

'On the basis of the latest data from the National Statistics and our market observations, we can conclude that the downward property price trend in Bulgaria has finally come to an end' - comments Polina Stoykova MRICS, Head of Operations and Property Research at BULGARIAN PROPERTIES

The average price of an apartment in the regional cities in Bulgaria in 2013 was 442 EUR/sq.m (compared to 450 EUR/sq.m in 2012).

The average prices at which apartments in the big cities in Bulgaria were sold in 2013, according to NSI data, are as follows:

• Sofia – 736 Euro/sq.m.
• Plovdiv – 474 Euro/sq.m.
• Varna – 710 Euro/sq.m.
• Bourgas – 571 Euro/sq.m.
• Stara Zagora – 445 Euro/sq.m.
• Veliko Тarnovo – 365 Euro/sq.m.

In Q4 of 2013 the accumulated nominal price drop of apartment prices in the regional cities over the years since the beginning of the crisis reached -39.04%, while in Sofia the decrease was -41.02%. The accumulated real* fall in prices (after inflation deduction) since the beginning of the crisis was -44.52% in the country on average and -46.32% in Sofia.

*Real change is estimated after inflation deduction, calculated with the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices (HICP). The deduction of inflation provides a more accurate estimation of the real price changes, so when using the NSI data we always make the necessary calculations to obtain a more precise market picture.

The detailed data for of the changes in apartment prices in the big cities around the country for 4Q of 2013 is as follows:

Nominal and real change of prices compared to the previous quarter:

• Sofia – nominal growth (+0.83%) and real growth (+0.85%)
• Plovdiv – nominal growth (+0.41%) and real growth (+0.43%)
• Varna – nominal growth (-0.49%) and real growth (-0.48%)
• Bourgas – nominal growth (-0.10%) and real growth (-0.09%)
• Stara Zagora – nominal growth (-0.19%) and real growth (-0.17%)
• Veliko Tarnovo – nominal growth (-0.52%) and real growth (-0.51%)

Nominal and real change of prices compared to the same quarter the previous year

• Sofia – nominal growth (+1.13%) and real growth (+2.13%)
• Plovdiv – nominal growth (+0.60%) and real growth (+1.59%)
• Varna – nominal growth (-3.54%) and real growth (-2.59%)
• Bourgas – nominal growth (-2.48%) and real growth (-1.52%)
• Stara Zagora – nominal growth (-1.10%) and real growth (-0.12%)
• Veliko Tarnovo – nominal growth (-1.13%) and real growth (-0.15%)

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