Drop of apartment prices in regional cities slows down to 0.8% in 3Q 2011

The latest data for apartment prices in the regional cities in Bulgaria, announced by the National Statistical Institute (NSI), shows that property prices continue to fall in the 3Q 2011, but that the drop is slowing down compared to previous periods.

Average prices of apartments in the regional cities in Bulgaria have dropped by 0.84% compared to the previous quarter and by 6.1% compared to the third quarter of 2010. This makes the last quarter one of the periods with the least drop in apartment prices since the beginning of the crisis. According to NSI data the average price of an apartment in the regional cities in the country is 460 EUR/sq.m.

The real decrease of prices of apartments after inflation (calculated with the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices HICP) is 0.95% compared to the previous quarter and 8.92% year-on-year (compared to the same quarter in 2010).

For Sofia the nominal decrease in prices is 0.64% compared to the previous quarter and 8.55% year-on-year. After inflation prices of apartments in Sofia decreased by 0.74% compared to the previous quarter and by 11.3% compared to the same period last year. In the last quarter apartments in the capital Sofia were sold for an average of 745 EUR/sq.m. and in Varna - 763 Euros per sq.m.

Three years after the beginning of the crisis we see that there is a slowdown in the price drop which is now close to 0% compared to the previous quarters of 2011. This is a trend we expected to happen and which started in the middle of 2010.

The accumulated nominal price decrease of apartments in the regional cities in the last 3 years is 36.45%, as according to NSI data the price drop in Sofia is 41%. The accumulated real decrease in prices since the beginning of the crisis is 40.8% on average for the country and 45.1% for Sofia.

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

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

• Sofia – nominal growth (-0.64%) and real growth (-0.74%)
• Varna – nominal growth (-1.02%) and real growth (-1.12%)
• Plovdiv – nominal growth (+1.91%) and real growth (+1.8%)
• Bourgas – nominal growth (+1.84%) and real growth (+1.73%)
• Stara Zagora – nominal growth (-2.29%) and real growth (-2.39%)
• Rousse – nominal growth (-2.02%)and real growth (-2.13%)
• Veliko Tarnovo – nominal growth (-2.93%) and real growth (-3.04%)

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

• Sofia– nominal growth (-8.55%) and real growth (-11.3%)
• Varna – nominal growth (-4.10%) and real growth (-7%)
• Plovdiv – nominal growth (-4.78%) and real growth (-7.66%)
• Bourgas – nominal growth (+1.68%) and real growth (-1.39%)
• Stara Zagora – nominal growth (-4.5%) and real growth (-7.37%)
• Rousse – nominal growth (-0.67%) and real growth (-3.66%)
• Veliko Tarnovo – nominal growth (-12.1%) and real growth (-14.75%)

The nominal decrease in prices compared to the previous quarter is between 0.2% and 3% (with a decrease in the 2Q compared to 1Q of between 1 and 5%) as the biggest price drops are registered in Montana (-3.6%), Pleven (-3.6%), Smolyan (-4.74%), Veliko Tarnovo (-3%) and Yambol (-4.22%).

The drops year-on-year are between 3 and 8% (with between 5% and 10% in 2Q 2011) as the biggest decrease is registered in Gabrovo (-13.8%), Pernik (-10.9%), Shoumen (-10.7%), Veliko Tarnovo (-12%), and Vidin (-10%).

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