From Novinite 17/09/2009

Bulgaria's property market has registered an August increase of 2% to 3%, the Chair of the National Real Estate Association, Lachezar Iskrov reported.

Iskrov spoke Thursday in a special interview for Darik radio.

According to the Chair, property prices have ceased to go down, but will maintain their current level for quite a while and the real estate values would reach their pre-crisis numbers in five to six years from now.

Currently the average price for residential properties in the capital Sofia is between EUR 750 and 950 per square meter. In the Black Sea cities of Varna and Burgas the values are 5% to 10% lower while the prices are the lowest in Bulgaria's second largest city, Plovdiv - between EUR 550 and 750 per square meter.

Iskrov also pointed out that the minimal reduction of mortgage interest rates was not going to contribute to a further market revival since the banks still grant loans under conditions that are too restrictive.

The National Real Estate Association Chair said that he expects a price reduction for lands used for construction since they have been overpriced in last years, but the demand has been almost non-existent lately.

I wonder how true this is ????

In the last month there does seem to be a revival of apartment sales on the coast here, allbeit they are front line top of the market properties, which I believe always sell in any country as mostly people who can spend this sort of money are not hit quite so hard in a credit crunch, rural properties when speaking to agents still dont seem to be selling.

I guess that if your looking for a village house then this could be the time to buy :roll:

I am not so sure, the problem being that the really cheap ones need to be knocked now and rebuilt otherwise you spend so much money on renovations, which people are now finding they cannot sell as the price they are asking is far to high , but you could be lucky and find one that someone is selling at less than what they have spent on it.

I agree with Fletch - we are currently renovating a beautiful, 1800s type village house but we would never be able to sell it to recoup the costs. We are doing it for ourselves and want to keep some original features especially the oldstyle roof. Our pesent home in the same village is up for sale but we do not want a quick one! Not ready to move yet and we really love it but it is just too big for the two of us. Its on for a very reasonable price and very cosy to live in immediately although leaving plenty of potential for further improvements if that's what people want. However, don't all rush because it will be a bit gutting to leave a home where we have been so happy. We will not make any profit after what we have spent on it, but that was never the object and we didn't realise we would ever move but its just too big for two people (at least for us whose needs are small). [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

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