Housing prices in Bulgaria slid by 0.8 per cent between April and June compared with the previous quarter, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said. On an annual basis, home prices have decreased by 9.7 per cent, according to the most recent statistics. The second quarter saw declines in 13 cities and towns in Bulgaria, the sharpest in Gabrovo (-8.3 per cent), Shoumen (-7.8 per cent)  [ Read More ]

Foreign property investors who have largely deserted the Bulgarian real estate market are set to be lured as more loans are made available for overseas buyers. The real estate market in the country has been in a bit of a slump since a large chunk of overseas buyers from Britain and Ireland deserted the country at the height of the global economic crisis and have not yet returned. As a  [ Read More ]

Bulgaria will ease the process of issuing visas to nationals from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov was quoted as saying by Darik Radio on June 4 2010. The goal is to stimulate the flow of tourists from these countries over the summer, bearing in mind that Bulgaria’s Black Sea has proved an attractive destination for holidaymakers from these four non-EU countries. The changes include shortening  [ Read More ]

Mortgage loans for foreign nationals and Bulgarians working abroad are back on the Bulgarian banking market in response to reviving demand, banks and credit consultants said. Tihomir Toshev, executive director of credit consultant Credit Center, said interest in this type of loans was zero at the time when the crisis was at its worst, forcing lenders to withdraw such offers. Other consultants say that banks are imposing new requirements, such  [ Read More ]

Combined construction in Bulgaria suffered a 20 per cent dip in March 2010, according to latest data released by the National Statistics Institute. Building construction, covering both real estate and office space, fell by 29.4 per cent, while infrastructure construction declined by 1.4 per cent, marking an aggregate decrease of 20.2 per cent in March 2010 on the same month the previous year. On a monthly basis, however, the trend  [ Read More ]

A big rise of Russian investment in Bulgarian real estate along the Black Sea coast has been reported by private Bulgarian television channel bTV on June 25 2010. About 100 000 Russians have purchased property along the Bulgarian coast. According to Yuri Salovyov, Russian general secretary to the Russian embassy in Varna, this means that more than 300 000 Russians regularly spend their holidays in the country, given that they  [ Read More ]

The prices of real estate in Bulgarian cities still mark a trend of decrease, according to data from Bulgarian real estate agency Foros, with the biggest drop in Veliko Tarnovo and capital Sofia. For the first half of 2010 prices in Veliko Tarnovo have dropped with 10.84%, and those in Sofia – with 7.55% of prices for the second half ot 2009. Some regions have nevertheless retained a marginal increase  [ Read More ]

Real estate has soared in value by more than 300 per cent over the past decade, according to real estate consultancy agency Address, and as such, remains the soundest  investment in Bulgaria, despite recent falling values, the agency said in a media statement on June 8 2010. “Regardless of the decline in value over the past two years, Bulgarian real estate remains the best form of investment,” the statement reads.  [ Read More ]