Luxury and Cheaper Properties Driving the Market in Capital Sofia

The bigger dynamics in the highest and lowest price segments drive the residential property market in Sofia – what buyers look for are apartments of up to 60,000 EUR and luxury properties for over 150,000 EUR. This is what Polina Stoykova – the Chief Operations Manager of BULGARIAN PROPERTIES – comments in a property market analysis.

After the increase in sales in January in Sofia the number of deals in February and March is similar to that in 2010. The price per sq.m. at which deals are concluded vary between 580 and 950 EUR as the average price of the deals concluded in Sofia since the beginning of 2011 is 900 EUR/sq.m. To compare, according to BULGARIAN PROPERTIES the average prices in the last quarter of 2010 were 930 EUR/sq.m. and in the third quarter of 2010 - 840 EUR/sq.m. This means there is no change in the average prices of residential properties in Sofia, and the number of realized deals is similar to that in 2010. The stabilization on the market continues awaiting an increase in the number of deals.

The overall situation on the market at the moment very much resembles that of March 2010 when the economic recovery was still uncertain. This means it can be said that people are a little less optimistic and less secure about their future as this is true both for Bulgarians and foreigners. In the last few weeks it seems buyers became once again apathetic and more uncertain because of the price increase of goods and the economic and political events both locally and on a global scale.

The ski resorts

The winter season is already at its end and the first conclusions can be made for the property market in the ski resorts. What the market showed this season is a lack of interest and a decrease in the number of deals by 50% in the ski resorts compared to the same period last year. Usually, the beginning of the ski season marks an increase in the interest in properties in ski resorts as this trend was kept even during the toughest periods - winter 2008/2009 and 2009/2010. However, this season buyers withdrew from the ski resorts and there were few deals. Based on the number of sold apartments the average price in Bansko since the beginning of 2011 is 585 EUR/sq.m. as they are fully furnished apartments in functioning developments. This makes a 10% drop compared to the levels at which deals were concluded in 2010 - 650 EUR/sq.m.

The Southern Black Sea coast

An interesting fact about the holiday home sector is that this winter season the interest in beach property did not decrease and it is in that sector that most deals are concluded outside the capital Sofia. This is true mainly for the southern Black Sea coast where the number of deals has increased by 30% compared to the winter of 2010, while the interest in the resorts around Varna has decreased. The most deals on the southern Black Sea coast are in Sunny Beach – fully furnished apartments priced between 400 and 700 EUR/sq.m. or between 25,000 and 70,000 EUR, as most deals are for properties between 25,000 and 30,000 EUR.

The interest in the area of Veliko Tarnovo has also increased since the beginning of the year – mainly in well maintained and renovated houses that are ready to live in, priced between 20,000 and 35,000 EUR.

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