A Place in the Sun Magazine: Bulgaria Bounces Back

Whether your seek a mountain, beach or country home, Bulgaria offers affordability that is hard to beat and market stability returned, says Richard Way

Ranked by Post Office Travel Money as the cheapest place to ski and second cheapest place to enjoy a ii holiday in 2016, Bulgaria remains just as good value when it comes to property, whether you're looking for a home on the coast or inland.

"A full member of the EU, Bulgaria has the lowest property prices in Europe," said Andy Turver, an expat. "Neighbouring countries all have a higher cost of properly ownership, including both Greece and Turkey. Prices fell sharply with the financial crisis, bottomed out in 2014 and now remain low."

These days, reaching Bulgaria is cheap and easy too, thanks to an increasing choice of low-cost flights. Only this May, Ryanair launches a daily service between Stansted and Sofia, complementing its existing Stansted-Plovdiv route. Other options to Sofia include easyJet, BA and WizzAir, which also flies to Burgas and Varna, from various UK airports.

Perhaps fuelled by last year's weakening of the euro, to which the Bulgarian Lev is pegged, signs point to a resurgence in interest from the UK. "We had 8-10 per cent more British buyers in 2015 compared to 2014," said Polina Stoykova, Managing Director at Bulgarian Properties, the country's largest estate agency, "In fact, in the ski resort of Bansko the number doubled year-on-year."

Today, British buyers don't only head to Bulgaria's ski resorts or Black Sea coast, with an increasing number tapping into the rustic lifestyle of the countryside - we look at what each option has to offer.

Read the whole A Place in the Sun Magazine article here

Check out what happened at A Place in the Sun Live in London this year!

See our property listings from the various locations:

• Sunny Beach and the Southern Coast
  
• Varna and the Northern Coast
  
• Bansko
  
• All ski resorts
  
• Veliko Tarnovo
  
• All Rural properties
  
• ... and more