24.01.2008

Bulgaria's property market is likely to maintain momentum in the first months of 2008, realtors said. The forecast comes after a year in which Bulgaria saw extremely high growth level in prices.

Sofia and Varna are recording the most impressive mark-ups with asking prices in the most expensive districts peaking at 1500 euro a sq m, according to data provided by the local real estate site www.imot.bg.

Yavorov and Ivan Vazov neighbourhoods, as well as the capital's centre, remain the most expensive residential areas, commanding prices of 1467 euro a sq m, 1466 euro a sq m and 1425 euro a sq m respectively.

Prices of residential property in the prime neighbourhoods of coastal Varna - such as Grutska mahala (the Greek neighbourhood) - overtake those of Sofia with offers averaging 1561 euro a sq m. Experts point out that properties usually sell at between 5 to 10 per cent lower than asking prices.

Bulgaria recorded the world's strongest house price growth last year against a background of a global cooling in the property market. A study, conducted by Global Property Guide, calculated the country's house price growth at 30.6 per cent (15.4 per cent in real terms, corrected by inflation) as of September 30 2007, compared to the same period in 2006.