Spacious housing is more and more in demand in the Sofia market
The pandemic has opened up new trends on the real estate market in Bulgaria. The demand for spacious housing has increased – people want to expand their area, and are paying more attention to houses. As a result, there is less demand for one-bedroom apartments, the share of such sales has dropped to 30%, and two-bedroom apartments – to 50%. In turn, the number of transactions for the purchase of private houses with 4 bedrooms has increased to 10% of total sales. The average area of such housing is 94 square meters, and last year it was 2 square meters more.
Most purchases of houses in Sofia belong to the segment of new construction, and deals are concluded in the early stages of construction of real estate. The fact is that at this stage, the choice of objects is more diverse than at the time of delivery.
As for apartments in the capital, the average price of apartments in the capital is 1150 euros per square meter. m, at the beginning of last year this figure was at 1120 euros per square meter. On an annualized basis, the cost increase was 2.7%. According to analysts, by the end of 2022 the price will increase by 3-5%. The average cost of an apartment in Sofia is approximately 109,500 euros, in 2020 the figure was at 100,260 euros. The dynamics of rising prices shows a new trend – the desire to buy more housing. In this regard, the share of apartments with larger square footage is growing on the real estate market.
The most popular districts of the Bulgarian capital are Manastirski Livadi, Vitosha, Mladost and others. As soon as it became known about the extension of the metro line to the young “Polygon” district, interest in real estate here increased dramatically.
The demand for housing near Slivnitsa Boulevard and Banichora Boulevard has not subsided. Buyers are especially attracted to gated communities and options with their own courtyard. Very popular are apartments with terraces or first floor apartments where there is a possibility to enrich the yard.
Low interest rates and a stable recovery of the economy contribute to the development of the Bulgarian real estate market. The incomes of the citizens are growing and their standard of living is rising, which also creates a favorable environment for the purchase of a house or apartment.
There is an active development in the segment of construction. After a pause connected with the pandemic, developers are commissioning new objects and launching major projects. For the first quarter of the year in Sofia there were 6682 transactions for sale, while during the same period in 2021 the figure was 5285. We can say that the local housing market has not only fully recovered after the downturn in 2020, but also began a new growth cycle.