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Big Bargains in Bulgaria for Holiday Home Hunters

The cost of buying a holiday home in Bulgaria is getting cheaper, which is good news for foreigners seeking a bargain deal for their new place in the sun.

According to the latest data released by Bulgarian Properties realtor, prices of holiday homes in Bulgaria have slumped by a whopping 50% in comparison with 2008 when they peaked.

Holiday home hunters generally prefer to buy property in Varna on the Black Sea or Burgas. The southern coastal resorts and Sunny Beach in particular have witnessed the highest number of deals.

Russian investors now dominate the Bulgarian market as British holiday home-owners are selling up and coming home in droves – or at least sending foreign money back to the UK.

Russians, who account for 40% of foreign buyers on the property market in Bulgaria, have shown a special preference to the Sunny Beach resort.

In February the average asking price for apartments in the Sunny Beach resort stood at EUR 677/sq. m. compared to EUR 853/ sq.m. a year ago. Deals however are concluded at a much lower price - about EUR 500/sq. m. on average, according to experts' estimates.

Prices are in free-fall in the biggest winter resort of Bansko too.

The average asking price of apartments in Bansko in February stood at EUR 550/sq. m., while offers on the low market are around EUR 350/sq.m. Since the beginning of the year, transactions in the mountain town are concluded at about EUR 450/sq.m.

Many Brit ex-pats who have settled permanently in villages and even in the most remote rural areas are happy to sell their houses at a price tag of about EUR 15 500.

Property investors who bought in the boom years, before the credit crunch in 2008 have had their fingers burnt. Even though Bulgaria is outside the eurozone, most property transactions are in euros.

Meanwhile investors from Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan are showing a growing interest in real estates located in Bansko, Sofia and along the Black Sea coast.

They are looking for already built properties or new construction and refrain from greenfield purchases.

The residential property market in Bulgaria has received a lot of investment from both locals and foreigners over the past few years.

But Bulgarian property transactions have slowed considerably since 2007, as a consequence of an oversupply of homes and a sluggish economy, causing prices to fall.

Bulgarian property prices have been depreciating at a rather rapid pace, ensuring that price levels remain extremely cheap compared with many other European countries.