Bulgarian property market plummeted in past two years - official statistics
Bulgaria's property market saw a nearly twofold decline in real estate sales compared with the record-high number of deals registered in 2007, according to National Statistical Institute (NSI) and Registry Agency statistics.
During the period, property prices lost a third of their peak value in 2007 and fewer building permits were issued. According to local real estate brokers, the trend is likely to persist throughout the first half of 2011.
The number of property deals in the country, including sales of land, residential real estate and buildings, has close to halved in the past four years, with deals in Sofia, Varna and Bourgas dropping between five per cent and nine per cent against 2009, according to Registry Agency data.
The decline in sales was accompanied by a decrease in property prices, which were about 33 per cent lower than in 2008, according to NSI. The average price of real estate in 2010 was 964 leva a sq m in 2010, with Bulgaria's capital city Sofia emerging as the most expensive city with 1 569 leva a sq m. The lowest property prices were registered in the town of Kyustendil, or 567 leva a sq m.
On average, real estate costs decreased by 10 per cent in 2010, in line with projections made by major real estate agencies such as Address Foros and Colliers, which predicted that prices would stabilise in the middle of 2010, producing a gradual rise in sales.
Property deals in the third quarter of 2010 rose by 1300 against the same period of 2009, but the number of real estate transactions in the October-December period was 6000 less than a year ago.
According to figures of the statistical office for the first nine months of 2010, the country's construction sector continued to deteriorate as reflected by the lower number of building permits and the 50 per cent decline in the total built-up area. Furthermore, the number of buildings put into operation in the nine-month period went down by 18 per cent on an annual basis.
Text source: sofiaecho.com
Photo: Maria Subotinova
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