Deals with holiday homes in Bulgaria increase considerably

In the very beginning of the summer season there are signs of an increased interest and more deals with holiday homes. The data of real estate agency BULGARIAN PROPERTIES shows that the high activity is focused mainly along the southern Black Sea coast – in the resorts of Sunny Beach, Pomorie, Ravda, etc.

At present the most popular properties are apartments and studios with an area of 30-40 sq.m., whose price is the lowest. The company’s statistics shows that the price of the deals rarely exceeds 30,000 Euro. Buyers are mostly interested in furnished properties in functioning developments. The distance to the sea is not as important anymore and buyers are ready to compromise if the price is right.

In fact, there was interest in beach resorts even during the winter, but the buyers became more active in the beginning of May. BULGARIAN PROPERTIES note that in the first six months of 2012 the deals in the beach resorts in Bulgaria have gone up by 20% compared to last year.

There is also another interesting fact. The demand in the ski resorts has not decreased in the last couple of months, even though the season is long over. Experts agree that the reason for that is the considerably lower property prices there, as for example in Bansko prices have reached their lowest levels since the beginning of the crisis. In the resort of Borovets, where property prices are traditionally higher, there are already offers for 600-800 EUR/sq.m.

Polina Stoykova, Chief Operations Manager of BULGARIAN PROPERTIES: The high activity from May will continue

- Ms Stoykova, has there been change in the listing prices and the actual deal prices of holiday properties since the beginning of 2012?
- In the last 6-8 months there is almost no change in the asking prices which our company follows on a monthly basis. The same is valid for the prices on which the deals are concluded – both in the holiday home and in the residential home segment. Therefore we can say that the stabilization which we have been expecting for a while is already a fact – the market is calm, there is good supply and there are very good deals to be done.

- What will the number of deals be in the second quarter?
- We have about a 20% increase in deals in the holiday home segment year-on-year. It is difficult to say for now what the difference will be compared to the first quarter, as in April there was a temporary stagnation on the market, while May saw some of the highest deal levels since the beginning of the crisis. June is not over yet, but the initial data shows that the high activity from May will continue.

- Is there a discrepancy between the sellers’ expectations and the buyers’ resources?
- The sellers are mainly British and Irish who offer very attractive prices and in most cases suffer a loss of 50-60%. The buyers are mainly Russians looking to buy a beach property at a low price.

What we notice is that the British sellers are quite flexible and they react well to the demand of the Russian buyers, which helps them make a fast sale. If there is discrepancy in the expectations there is usually no deal, but there is also a trend for deals to fall through because one of the parties rethinks the situation and the deal is postponed.

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