General market information

• Author: Hristova, Nataliya
• Pages: 18-26

Consum er mar ket stud y on the fun ctio ning of the r eal estate servi ces for consum ers in the EU – Coun try Fiche Bulgaria

18

2. Gener al m arket inf orm ation

2.1 Key market dat a

Ta ble 5: Key m arke t da ta

Gene ra l m ar ket

sit ua tio n ( e. g. tren ds

in th e m ar ke t, r ecent

de velopm en ts in the

m ark et , p rice

fluctu at ions, etc.)

In last t wo y ears, th e r eal est ate mark et has b een on t he incr ease i n t erm s of pr ices a nd bu ilding of new hou ses. For t he f irst

ti me aft er se veral year s, th e nu mb er o f pu rchaser s ex ceeds t he nu mbe r of seller s. Accor din g t o the offici al st ati stics, the

nu mbe r of pr oper ty transact ions i n t he l ast quar te r o f 2 01 5 mar ks an incr ease of 20-3 0% . A rise of prop ert y p rices i n Sof ia

and other big cit ies li ke Va rna, Burgas an d Plov div is ob served too. At th e end of 2015, th e pr ice i ncrease for Sof ia w as

bet ween 5% an d 7% ; for Plovdiv , Var na and Bu rgas – cl ose t o 6 %; for th e old to wn of Plo vdiv - 29% . The average house

pr ices in Sofi a at th e end o f 20 15 was a bout 1 100 eur os p er squ are met er and for oth er b ig cit ies – 77 7 eu ro per sqm. For

th e period October-Decem ber 201 5 t he r eali zed tr ansact ions are most ly wit h t wo r oom dwel ling s wit h a n ar ea betw een 50-

60 squ are met ers and a pr ice fr om 40 0 00 t o 6 0 000 euro. The t hree -room fl ats sold in the same p eriod ranged fr om 85 to

11 0 sq uare m eters f or a pr ice b etw een 75 000€ and 11 0 000€. In 2015, the n umb er o f loa ns, gr anted for th e pu rchase of

hou sing, grow led u p by about 15 %. Accor ding to expert s an d analy sts, t his upsu rge in th e real estat e m arket resul ts f rom

interi or factors such as a ri se in gr oss d omestic prod uct and in aver age rem unerati on. To t his shou ld b e add ed t he d ecrease

in int erest r ates on loans g rant ed – in th e ran ge of 4.8% -5. 9% . I n t erm s of rent s, house prices r ange from 2. 5 eu ro to 5.00

eur o per squar e m eter, depending on th e are a, i nfrastr ucture a nd h ousin g con diti ons. In 2015, th e m ont hly ren tal pri ces of

tw o-r oom s flats in Sofi a wer e bet ween 300-5 50 eur o, the th ree-r oom apart ment s betw een 400 and 80 0 eu ros and the mu lti

–stor ey about 90 0 eu ro. In Plov div, th ere is a t endency for rent ing houses close t o the city . Th e mont hly rent is about 3. 5

euro per sq uar e m eter .

2016: Combined dat a of on e of the l eadin g real estat e ag encies ( ARCO REAL ESTATE, w ww.arcorea l.bg /en ) i n Bul garia

indicate a st reng thening of th e tren d of rising propert y m ark et in 201 6. Th ere is a d oubl e gr owth in resi dent ial proper ty

dem and in Sofia in t he l ast quart er of 2 016 compar ed t o t he same p eriod in 201 5. Mo st active i s th e dem and f or t hree-

bed room dw ellin gs wit h an area of 80 t o 1 10 squ are m eters ( 44% of tota l dem and ), follo wed by th e tw o-bed room dw ellin gs

wi th an a rea of 5 0 t o 70 square m ete rs -3 2% of th e total demand .