Real estate prices

The prices of the properties in Bulgaria are among the lowest in Europe. Even the cost of a good quality property in a popular destination as the Black sea or mountain resorts is affordable for most of the property buyers. And an old house in the countryside may cost less than €5,000. The deals with off-plan properties are also preferred by the buyers for being very profitable.

In the last two years the estates prices have increased with more than 50%. The trend for the next years is that the prices will continue to rise with around 10-15% per year. - a moderate, but systematic increase of Bulgarian property prices.

The prices of the properties vary as can be seen in the following examples:

• An old rural house with 4 rooms near a historic town with need of repair and without water inside will cost less than €5,000.
• Seafront apartment with 2 rooms near within 30 km from the international airport will cost €40,000-50,000.
• Luxury architect designed villa on the Black Sea cost with pool and garden may cost up to €200,000.
• Double room apartment near in the ski village Bansko will cost about €20,000-30,000.
• The price of an old 4 room house near the becoming more and more popular ski resort Pamporovo may cost €10,000-20,000 depending on its condition and the size of the garden.
• New flats neat a golf playground are usually sold for about €30,000.

The property types with fastest growing prices during 2005 are the vacations villages, the new developments on the Black Sea coast and in the ski resorts, apartments and houses in Sofia region, the office and commercial spaces.

The rise of the worth of a real estate depends on a number of factors, including the condition of the property, its location and type.

In the next figure the average prices of apartments by Bulgaria’s administrative regions are shown. The data is for Q4’2003 and Q1’2004 and the, and the arrows represent the increase of the number of sales, expressed with the national index for real estate sector (REMI).

The statistical average prices of new constructions in Sofia for Q1 2004 are listed in the next table.

New construction prices in Sofia	Price (EUR/sq.m)
Downtown area	510 – 800
Losenets	510 – 800
Ivan Vazov	600 – 950
Beli brezi	500 – 610
Manastirski livadi	500 – 550
Iztok	680 – 1,200
Strelbishte	450 – 550

Average prices of the apartments in the Bulgaria’s Black Sea “capital” Varna as they were in 2004 and the relative increase of these prices to those for 2003 are shown in the table.

Area	EUR/sq.m	% of increase compared to 2003
Downtown	550 – 850	12
Greek district	650 – 850	13
Sports hall	550 – 600	12
Chayka	450 – 550	12
VINS/Red square	550 – 700	14
Generali	550 – 650	14

Office sales and rental prices in some Bulgarian locations based on asking price:

Area	Rent, EUR/sq.m	Sale, EUR/sq.m
Sofia	6 – 20	700 – 850
Plovdiv	4 – 6.50	400 – 550
Varna	4.50 – 14	600 – 1,200
Bourgas	2.5 – 12	400 – 850

Average prices of building plots in Sofia in the different areas (2004):

Area	Price (EUR/sq.m)
Botevgradsko shose Blvd	10 – 25
Bulgaria Blvd	30 – 80
Evropa Blvd	6 – 30
Lomsko shose Blvd	5 – 20
Todor Alexandrov Blvd	180 – 350
Tsar Boris III Blvd	~ 300
Tsarigradsko shose Blvd	62
Sofia ringroad Blvd	15 – 30
Downtown	415 - 580

Average prices of building plots near at the North Black Sea within an existing urban scheme (2004):

Area	Price (EUR/sq.m)	% of increase compared with 2003
Sv. Sv. Konstantin i Elena resort	120 – 125	7 – 9
Golden Sands resort	120 – 130	17 – 20
Arab settlement	100 – 110	13
Evxinograd	55 – 60	12
Varna Black Sea Garden	110 – 120	12
Trakata	35 – 38	8
Sveti Nikola	25 – 35	10
Galata/Rakitnika	12 – 15	14
Kamchia	8 – 10	10

Average prices of building plots near at the North Black Sea (2004):

Resort and area	Price (EUR/sq.m)
Arbanasi	20
Pamporovo	15 – 35
Bansko (Bania road)	35 – 45
Bansko (Ringroad)	~ 40
Bansko (Near the Glazne hotel)	~ 60
Bansko (Around the Pirin hotel)	100 – 120
Bansko (Next to the new road to the ski lift)	120
Bansko (With building permit in town)	100 – 120
In Bansko central area	~ 100