Average housing property prices in Bulgaria will hit rock bottom by the middle of 2010 before settling in the following months and then starting to pick up, rising by at least 10 per cent by the end of the year, according to Tihomir Tsakov, manager of Bulgarian real estate agency Aristo.

Tsakov said that if there is no unexpected turn of events in the economy, prices will hit bottom at the beginning of 2010. The market will be also spurred by the slight drop in the cost of borrowing, coupled with the waning supply of quality offers.

This forecast clashes with projections made by other major real estate agencies such as Colliers, Address and Foros, which expect the fall will continue thoughout the first half of the year, tumbling by 10 per cent before settling.

Tatyana Emilova, housing space manager at Colliers, said that complete recovery could be expected over the next 12 to 18 months.

Tsvetelina Taseva, executive director of Address, said the market will depend on which route banks take. If they opt for quickly selling foreclosed properties as bad loans proliferate, prices will come down. If they choose to hold on to them, the supply of good property will be reduced significantly.

Aristo estimated that the Bulgarian housing market has gone back to 2004 levels in terms of deal numbers as only about 200 000 transactions took place.

For the first time since 2000, Bulgaria’s average home prices slid to 548 euro a sq m, according to the National Statistical Institute (NSI). On a brighter note, the market dodged the bleakest forecasts, with prices diving 21.36 per cent year-on-year and returning to 2007 levels, according to Tsakov.

He said deal numbers are likely to increase by at least 20 per cent more than last year, passing the 240 000 benchmark.

Source: Dnevnik