Property prices in Bulgaria drop by 5-10% in 2011

In a news report about what happened on the Bulgarian property market in 2011 private national TV station bTV asked the opinions of real estate agents, one of which is the Chief Operations Manager of BULGARIAN PROPERTIES Polina Stoykova.

According to the data of BULGARIAN PROPERTIES last year property prices in the country dropped between 5 and 10% compared to 2010. The company data shows that while in 2010 the asking price per square meter in the capital Sofia was 1,100 Euro in 2011 it was already about 920 Euro. The price drop in the Black Sea city of Varna is similar. At the end of 2011 prices of properties in Bourgas dropped to 860 EUR/sq.m. and in Plovdiv – to about 770 EUR/sq.m.

Properties in Bansko register biggest price drop

Real estate agents in Bansko define the condition of the property market in the resort as being in a standstill. According to BULGARIAN PROPERTIES’ data in the last year price of properties in Bansko fell by as much as 25%.

“At present sales have decreased drastically. This decrease is felt especially in the last few months and it is about 30% compared to the previous two years. There are almost no English buyers on the market at the moment, says Dimitar Iliev, a hotel manager.

”I think that at the moment prices have almost hit the bottom, meaning that we cannot reduce them further. That is why we rely more on advertising”, adds Vanya Voyna, a sales manager.

Experts say that prices in the bigger cities are relatively stable. Nevertheless, there is a decrease in demand and therefore in the prices. One of the most attractive property markets in the country – that in Varna – is no exception to the rule.

”Yes, in some residential quarters there is a decrease of 8-10% while prices in other quarters remain stable. In general about last year we can say that the average price decrease is about 5-7%”, explains Dilyan Dimitrov, real estate agent.

The price is the leading factor

According to the analyses of BULGARIAN PROPERTIES what buyers are most interested in is the property price, and at present the highest demand is for one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.

”What is typical for the market at the moment is that there is demand for properties in the lower price segment. This means apartments in the bigger cities for about 50,000 Euro, which is different compared to 2010 when there was demand in the higher price segment as well”, says Polina Stoykova, Chief Operations Manager of BULGARIAN PROPERTIES.

Real estate agents are reluctant to give specific forecasts for 2012. Still, they agree that at present there is no optimism on the market.

Should we expect even lower prices this year

The initial forecasts are that property prices will remain similar to their present levels, but there is also a possibility for a small drop. Real estate agents think the number of concluded deals will remain similar to their “crisis” level from 2010.

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