Bulgaria property news and articles

Bulgaria is still cheap compared with western Europe – especially average prices – though in certain hotspots prices are starting to approach those of other places in central Europe. You can still find many bargains and old houses in need of complete renovation for under €15,000 (£10,000), but you will need to spend more than this again to renovate them for living or letting.

A few years back – say, before 2000 – the property market was absolutely dead. There were few domestic or foreign buyers and the country was one big bargain basement for purchasers. As so few foreigners were in Bulgaria, the only people buying were those expats who ventured out of Sofia and were prepared to take the risk.The other buyers were a few expats who were working in the country who realised that the place had enormous potential. Now, with 30,000 foreign buyers – and a booming domestic economy – prices have picked up.

The following table shows average property prices for the country as a whole. The prices here are mean prices and within any district there will be considerable fluctuation. Prices for older housing stock will generally be cheaper than prices of new, centrally located developments. The table gives a good illustration of the variation between regions-from places like Varna on the Black Sea coast to VelikoTurnovo, where prices can be half as much.

Average Quarter    Market Prices of Dwellings     First Quarter 2007

District centres    Quarter prices: leva* per sq m               1st quarter 2007
4th quarter 2006      1st quarter 2007    as percentage of
4th quarter 2006
Total 904.0 988.2 109.3
Blagoevgrad           830.0 964.3 116.2
Bourgas                 1,297.2 1,312.3 101.2
Varna 1,418.7 1,646.0 116.0
VelikoTurnovo 873.5 890.2 101.9
Vidin    586.5    600.7    102.4
Vratsa    703-5    758.2    107.8
Gabrovo    660.8    702.7    106.3
Kyustendil     502.2    5577    111.1
Lovech 609.0    613.0    100.7
Montana    717-5    739-8    103.1
Pazardzhik    646.3    669.2    103.5
Pernik    750.0    853-5    113.8
Pleven    797-0    878.3    110.2
Plovdiv    988.2    1,050.8    106.3
Razgrad    594.8    671.2    112.8
Rousse    970.5    1,066.0    109.8
Silistra    490.7    568.3    115.8
Sliven    711.0    744.8    104.8
Smolyan    790.1    800.6    101.3
Sofia (central)    1,389.8    1,588.0    114.3
Stara Zagora    1,055.8    1.0597    100.4
Dobrich    642.7    7047    109.6
Targovishte    696.8    810.6    116.3
Haskovo    7857    826.5    105.2
Shumen    723.8     807.5    111.6
Yambol    629.3    645.2    102.5
Source: Bulgarian National Statistics Institute

‘Exchange rates (March 2009) 1 lev = €0.51; €1 = 1.95 leva; 1 lev = £0.49; £1 = 1.99 leva; 1 lev = $0.60; $1 = 1.63 leva

There is a variety of price indices published in Bulgaria, many of which derive their information from government statistics. The website www.nsi.bg is a handy guide and has an English and a Bulgarian version.