Demand on Bulgaria's luxury real estate market is rapidly growing, with a tendency to cover about 10% of the property market in the country.
Luxury properties become more and more affordable due to rising living standards and the development of new technologies, Kavrakov said. Luxury real estates in Bulgaria currently account for 3% to 5%, according to data, presented at the "Development and Challenges of the Real Estate Market in Bulgaria" conference. The participants in the session focused on market development by segments - residential and vacation properties. As the prices rise, people learn to demand and search for higher quality that meets their own specific needs and wishes, experts say. The average luxury flats price in Sofia at the moment is about EUR 1,250 per sq.m., while at the Black Sea coast one can buy a luxury house at a price of about EUR 1,110 per sq.m.
Segmenting of the market into old and new building, wider spread of so-called closed residential complexes and higher quality are some of the new trends on the property market in Bulgaria. New buildings prices are expected to increase 10% by the end of the year, while panel flats prices will fall about 5%. Poor infrastructure, oversupply, withdrawal of customers upon projections of falling prices in 2006 were singled out as the main problem that hurt the sector.