Fri, Feb 10 2012
The Bulgarian real estate market has enjoyed years of gradual growth, with prices constantly being on the upturn providing a healthy climate for the sector. These were the days of predictability and affluence. Not anymore, being on the outskirts of the hurricane of financial trubulence slowly approaching the country from the West, prices have taken on a sharp decline, as offers on the leading property websites in the country show.
Single family homes, shops, offices and land plots are show a decline ranging from two per cent in the most modest instances to as much as 10 per cent in larger towns and cities across the country, data from websites topimoti.bg, imoti.net and imot.bg shows.
In some grimmer cases, owners have slashed prices by as much as half in a direct consequence of the global credit crunch, the subsequent rising inflation and the waning purchasing power of the population.
For the full story, please visit propertywisebulgaria.com
British-based Property Abroad reports increasing interest in Bulgarian real estate
Average market prices of homes in Sofia fell by one per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to the same period of 2010, according to the Raiffeisen Real Estate Index, as quoted by Klasa daily.
Proportionately, the number of transactions in leva increased as people reacted to speculation that the euro would disappear.
Nearly all banks are ready to finance between 80 per cent and 90 per cent of the price of a home, provided it is a good building in a large city, Bulgarian daily says.
Property prices in Bulgaria were five to 10 per cent lower in 2011 than in 2010, while initial estimates for this year are that they will remain largely unchanged, with transactions remaining at ‘crisis levels’.
Bulgaria’s capital city Sofia ranks 17th, report says, quoting Global Property Guide.