Buying a Property in Bulgaria

Why buy property in Bulgaria?

Only a few years ago, buying a property in Bulgaria was seen as exotic and something of a risk. The property market was immature; the country was emerging from the disadvantages of being a former Communist state, and no-one was quite sure of how long the property market would continue to grow. The seaside resort of Sunny Beach was being mooted as one of the biggest new tourist destinations.

At the time, property was available off-plan for somewhere around £20,000 in the new resorts on the Black Sea coast. Things have changed somewhat since then. Bulgaria has become part of the European Union; the property market has seen unprecedented growth and the focus of British buyers has shifted away from the Black Sea coast to the ski resorts and the capital, Sofia.

As the first off-plan developments have now come ‘on-stream’ in the resorts and are accepting short-term tenants, the next couple of years will prove how much the property market and the new tourist trade will make a difference to the country. Sofia and the major towns are developing and modernising rapidly, and in some cases the infrastructure is struggling to keep up with the rapid growth in the property supply.

In common with many Eastern European countries, Bulgaria has found it’s fledgling free-market economy ill-equipped to deal with the global recession that has come in the past six months. An oversupply of property in some areas was already putting pressure on the market, and the result has been an annual fall in property prices across the country of 8.4 per cent, according to figures from the National Statistics Institute. Some areas, such as Bourgas, registered a rise in prices across the whole year, but trading conditions are expected to remain tough and further price drops are expected into the final quarter of 2009.

Popular locations - an overview

Bulgaria was predicted to be the next big thing in the tourist market in the UK, particularly the Black Sea resorts of Varna, Bourgas and Sunny Beach. Tourist numbers from the UK doubled in 2005 but the short summer season has seen this growth stutter a little. At the same time, the growth in the middle classes in Russia opened a new front in the battle for rental occupants with the Black Sea resorts becoming a popular destination for Russia’s new middle-management classes. The global financial recession has slowed this growth for the time being, but once the economy recovers Bulgaria should be in a position to attract tourists from Europe and Russia.

Those who prefer their holidays a little cooler will want to head to the ski resorts of Borovets and Bansko in the Pirin Mountains, an hour or so from Sofia. The ski runs are of good intermediate level standard, and the mountain scenery even better, in what is a World Nature Heritage national park. Borovets, near to the Rila Monastery, in particular, has character aplenty.

Next: Sofia: Capital of Bulgaria >>

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