Innovative property investments
Investment Property in Bulgaria
City Areas
Overview
Firm foundations
A major area of consideration for overseas buyers in Bulgaria has been the cities, with Sofia taking by far the biggest slice of the cake.
This market has firm foundations with substantial investor money flowing into the urban centres.
Economic revival
In common with most of the former Eastern Bloc, Bulgaria is enjoying a period of economic revival and growth in the cities thanks to an influx of young Bulgarian professionals and foreign workers.
Rental demand
Also in common with Bulgaria’s neighbours, many of the existing buildings in Sofia and secondary cities such as Plovdiv, Stara Zagora and Ruse (and certainly Varna and Burgas, though their markets are substantially affected too by the unrelated coastal boom) are less than appealing and in many cases in need of demolition.
There is a growing market for affordable, accessible, commodious properties for new professional city-dwellers, with the potential for secure long-term lets of the type that simply aren’t available in the tourist hot spots.
Capital growth
Capital growth is increasingly attractive in Sofia - running at between 15 and 20% in 2006 according to preliminary government figures - and it’s the new-build market which is really capturing foreign attention.
While the secondary cities are not experiencing the same degree of interest at present, the same drivers are to be found there and foreign developers have already snapped up a considerable amount of land in the business districts of Plovdiv and Ruse: expect these cities to enjoy mini-booms of their own over the next four to five years.
Market profile
One mistake which should definitely be avoided in the cities is buying rental properties at the very top end of the market.
As long-term tenants are almost certainly going to come from the Bulgarian populace, buyers need to look for useful and affordable units which could comfortably be rented out by urban professional types.
Sprawling suburban mansions do not fit this category and while they might make excellent residences for the buyers themselves they are unlikely to find much favour among the emerging professional class.
In many ways this makes the situation in the cities the direct opposite from that pertaining to the coast and the ski zones where it is the quest for the higher-end which should now be paramount.
Downloadable Reports and Documents
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