The industry was not at its healthiest over the past 12 months for understandable reasons, but there are indications that the business outlook may be slightly more convenient for potential buyers and sellers.

The most "popular" price-tags for real estate in Bulgaria's capital Sofia and the third largest city in the country, Varna, for the final quarter of 2009 were in the range of about 40 000 euro, Address real estate agency said, quoted by Dnevnik daily on January 26 2010.

According to data from the agency, about 73 per cent of buyers from both Sofia and Varna have said that they were prepared to purchase real estate at that price, if available on offer, said Kaloyan Bogdanov, Address' marketing manager.

"Earlier in 2009, people would spend up to 50 000 euro for a home, but now they are hesitating. Most buyers simply don't have more funds to spend."

According to the current market, 40 000 currently buys in Sofia a 60 to 70 sq m flat. Bogdanov reckons, however, that due to the current declining market, customers are waiting for prices to reach a new low before they make a final decision.

The driving factor in real estate transactions in 2010, according to Tsvetelina Tasseva, manager of Address, would be the so called double estate deals whereby a customer sells a property to finance the purchase of another one.

Banks are also expected to enter the market significantly and offer houses which were foreclosed from customers who failed to cover their mortgages.

"The market depends on the banks' behaviour," Tasseva was quoted as saying.

She says that if the banks decide to cash in quickly on homes that were requisitioned from their owners, prices will experience another fall. If they don't, "the availability of desirable homes on the market will be seriously limited," she said.

And while "desirable" homes may be purchased at affordable money in those two cities, it was revealed that in spite of the global economic downturn, Varna retained the steepest prices for real estate in 2009.

The Black Sea city was home to the most expensive real estate in 2009, according to data revealed by the National Statistics Institute (NSI) on January 25 2010.

With real estate values retreating on all fronts across Bulgaria during the year, properties in Varna were offered for a whopping 1686 leva for a sq m.

Sofia came in second with 1585 leva for a sq m, followed by Bourgas with 1360 leva for a sq m.

Overall, real estate in Bulgaria lost about 20 per cent of its value in 2009, according to the NSI research. In the fourth quarter of 2009 alone, levels dropped in 16 municipalities across the country, the steepest of which, 6.4 per cent, was in the northern city of Pleven.