The housing market in Sofia ends in 2024. consolidating its position as a leading real estate market for the country. "From the very beginning of the year, a steady increase in prices was observed, but the main impulse came in the second half of the year," commented Polina Stoykova MRICS, executive director of BULGARIAN PROPERTIES. This growth is largely due to the imbalance between supply and demand, as well as the increased interest in buying homes in the context of low mortgage rates.
"New offers on the market have decreased by 10% compared to the previous year, which is a continuation of a similar decline since 2023. This limits the options for buyers, especially in the secondary market, where the supply is extremely weak," she adds.
Bank lending, a major factor contributing to price growth, increased by 36% year-on-year. By the end of September, banks in the country have provided loans equal to the entire volume for 2023.
Average prices and price growth in Sofia
The average price of those purchased in the 3rd quarter of 2024. housing in Sofia is 1840 EUR/sq.m. at 1550 EUR/sq.m. at the end of last year. Thus, the annual price growth in the capital accelerates nominally to 18.7% (16.3% after deducting inflation) after a slowdown at the end of 2023.
The average total price of purchased apartments rose to EUR 159,500 from around EUR 140,000 at the end of last year.
For finished homes on the secondary market, the prices at which transactions are concluded vary between 2300 - 2500 EUR/sq.m. In the most prestigious areas of Sofia, the values approach 4,000 EUR/sq.m., which represents a kind of psychological limit for concluding deals at the moment.
Sales volumes
According to the data of the Registration Agency, they show that the transactions with properties in Sofia marked a growth of nearly 13% for the nine months. For the first nine months of the year, 24,818 transactions were registered in Sofia.
In general, the property market will end in 2024. with a similar number of transactions to that of 2023. According to this indicator, Sofia is growing significantly against the background of keeping the levels for the country as a whole.
You can see detailed statistics on average property prices in Bulgaria by cities and neighborhoods HERE