Innovative property investments
Investment Property in Bulgaria
City Areas
Plovdiv
Strategically located
Situated at the centre of the country, Bulgaria’s second largest city has always been a strategic transport hub for the country and the Balkans.
It lies on the ancient route connecting Belgrade with Istanbul now known as the E80 and has its own International Krumovo Airport.
But if you’re thinking Birmingham, think again.
Old Plovdiv is colourfully picturesque and laudable winner of UNESCO’s coveted gold award with a property market that is just taking off.
Attractively picturesque
Located along both banks of the Maritsa River, against a backdrop of charming hills, the 19th century Old Town is a monument to Bulgarian National Revival Architecture.
To wander through it is to enjoy steep, cobbled streets and lanes, strikingly colourful shuttered and bow-windowed facades, windowsills adorned with jaunty plant pots and old fountains trickling in the background.
Many of its magnificent homes are now museums and galleries providing an opportunity to admire their carved, polychromatic interiors.
Outstanding examples include the house of Chomaka, now the gallery of the renowned Bulgarian painter Zlatyo Boyajiev, and the house of Koiumjioglu, now an ethnographical museum, although it is for the house and its gardens that people come - especially for its summer garden concerts and International Chamber Music Festival.
Taking the old into the present
More ancient than Rome, Athens and Constantinople and a contemporary of Troy, Plovdiv is old, but, thanks to its mild climate and geographical location, has kept on ascending, finding ways to happily combine its layers of ancient heritage and new ambitions.
Today the magnificent ancient Roman Theatre provides an open-air stage for operas, theatre festivals and concerts throughout the summer evenings.
The city’s four mile state-of-the-art water sports facility located in the park near the city zoo interweaves its ancient and medieval finds to enrich the setting offered for the international rowing and biking competitions it hosts.
At the centre of things
Such a wealth of historical, cultural and artistic heritage has long established the city as a major tourist centre in its own right.
In addition, everything is within easy reach of Plovdiv.
At only 120km along an excellent motorway, the capital is an hour’s commute away.
A thirty minute drive takes you to the excellent hiking and skiing offered by three different mountain ranges, their vineyards, and if you're lucky the odd bear sighting.
Within two and half hours you can be at Bourgas and the Black Sea coast.
The presence of numerous geothermal springs in Hisarya, Banya, Krasnovo, Velingrad and Narechen means it will soon provide a good base for exploring the balneological tourism that is developing.
A modern heart
Plovdiv is also a modern, vibrant urban centre.
Good shopping, charming restaurants and art galleries line the pedestrianised Alexander I Boulevard.
By 2008 these will be augmented by the addition of three new shopping-entertainment complexes drawing considerable investment with them.
Its reputation as an important centre of industry, commerce and science attracts thousands of companies from around the world to exhibit at its prestigious twice yearly International Fair.
Future ambitions
Looking to the future, the mayors of the region started the year by submitting a joint bid to the Bulgarian Government to have Plovdiv’s airport upgraded.
This would bring a big boost to tourism in the Rhodopi Mountains, and Pamporovo’s ski resort in particular.
It is likely to be taken up as Plovdiv is Bulgaria’s second largest city, the country’s transport infrastructure is the governments stated priority for 2007 and in January 2007 BNR radio reported that the Transport Minister himself said:
“Charter and low cost airlines have shown keen interest in Plovdiv Airport ...[to] ... service tourist flows to Bulgaria’s winter resorts of Pamporovo, Borovets and Bansko. This outlines very good prospects for the development of Plovdiv Airport.”
Property overview
On the property front Plovdiv is beginning to enjoy its own mini boom as attention shifts away from the capital.
Last year its average price increase of 13.66% outdid the national average of 12.07% and that of its city rivals: Sofia (12.53%) and Varna (10.33%).
The property market in Plovdiv can be divided in two: “old town” and newer district, one each side of the Maritza river.
Average prices between the two vary considerably but both are equally worthy of investment.
The general rule, however, is that the closer to the centre it is, the more expensive it is too.
Older district
The older district is upmarket and conveys the atmosphere and culture of the city.
The property price tags reflect this. Homes selling for 400,000 EUR (270,000 GBP) are not uncommon.
Since 2004, construction around the old town has seen the development of more affordable modern apartments on a fairly large scale.
A one-bedroom flat here cost 45,000 EUR (30,000 GBP) in 2006.
Average per metre prices for apartments in the centre ranged from 550 to 900 EUR (370-600 GBP).
Average rents earnt on furnished residences were 2.2-3.8 EUR/m2 (1.5-2.5 GBP/m2).
Protected by UNESCO this district will never suffer excessive development.
Newer district
The relatively newer district on the other side of the river appeals to those who like entertainment, fashionable shops and recreational centres.
It is predominantly a modern business district.
New, stylish apartments have been built opposite the Novotel Hotel, and while expensive, are not anywhere near the cost of an apartment in the old town - about 140,000 EUR (94,000 GBP).
Average apartment prices in the business district are 350-750 EUR (235-500 GBP) per m2 and average rents earnt on furnished properties 2.1-3 EUR/m2 (1.4-2 GBP/m2).
Cheaper apartments exist in the old 1970s communist flats.
Police station
Close to the main police station on the road towards the large sports complex, stylish apartments have been built.
The police station itself is an attractive building in the middle of a pleasant square consisting of many shops, restaurants and apartments.
Houses in and around this area tend to be expensive - a duplex around here can cost about 90,000 EUR (60,300 GBP).
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