Rural Properties in Bulgaria - Average Prices Down By 53% in 2009

Jan. 28, 2010 - PRLog -- BULGARIAN RURAL PROPERTIES MARKET OVERVIEW

http://www.bulgarianproperties.com/rural-houses.html

For the first time in years the prices of rural properties started to decrease as early as in the beginning of 2009, i.e. they reacted very fast to the change in the economic situation and to the crisis.

In the last few years rural property prices increased at a stable rate as even in 2008 their average price went up by 24% compared to 2007 despite the decreased sales volumes by 43.5% in 2008 compared to 2007. But the crisis did not bypass this segment in 2009 and their prices fell by over 50% on an annual base returning to the levels from 2004-2005.

The analyses of BULGARIAN PROPERTIES http://www.bulgarianproperties.com/  for 2009 showed as early as in March 2009 that the decrease in the average prices of rural properties is 40% compared to the average levels in 2008 and the decrease in the number of deals continued until the end of April and reached 55% compared to the same period in 2008. The month of May 2009 brought change to the property market and it became more dynamic thanks to the lower prices, as this was also felt in the rural property segment. From May to August the average prices of realized deals continued to fall and decreased by an additional 33% compared to the period January-April 2009 while the number of concluded deals increased by 35% compared to that period.

In 2009 the decrease in the number of sales of rural properties amounts to 41% compared to 2008 (after a decrease of 43.5% in 2008 compared to 2007). The average price of rural properties decreased from 30,800 Euro in 2008 to 14,300 Euro in 2009 which is a fall of 53.5%.

It is exactly the low prices that revived the interest of the buyers in cheap rural properties. However, this time it is not only the British who are interested in buying a rural property but also a lot of Bulgarians, Russians, as well as people from many other various nationalities.

The decrease in the average number of sold rural properties is different in the different regions around the country. The greatest decrease is in the villages around Sofia, Varna, Bourgas, Kardzhali, Vidin and Montana – these are areas where the prices had increased considerably in the last few years. There is a decrease even in the area of Veliko Tarnovo which traditionally is an attractive place for buying a rural property. Exceptions from the general trend are only the rural properties around the towns of Plovdiv and Stara Zagora where the decrease is very small compared to that in the other regions. This is due to the fact that sellers in those areas were not inclined to reduce the prices of their property the result being very few deals there. Another reason is the fact that in these areas there is a market for more quality and expensive rural properties for permanent living.

1. Average prices of rural properties in 2009* and decrease compared to 2008*

• Villages around Sofia – 19,250 Euro -35%
• Regions of Varna and Dobrich – 14,800 Euro -53%
• Bourgas Region – 19,700 Euro -32%
• Plovdiv Region – 16,200 Euro -6%
• Stara Zagora Region – 13,500 Euro 0%
• Vidin Region – 7,000 Euro -44%
• Veliko Tarnovo Region – 11,525 Euro -19%
• Yambol Region – 12,900 Euro -21%
• Kardzhali Region – 11,300 Euro -58%
• Montana Region – 4,800 Euro -39%
• Pleven Region – 4,800 Euro -28%

*Average prices for 2008 and 2009 calculated on the basis of actually concluded deals with clients of BULGARIAN PROPERTIES
http://www.bulgarianproperties.com/

In short, the statistics shows the following:
Average price of the concluded deals with rural properties in 2009: 14,300 Euro
Decrease compared to 2008: -53,5%
Decrease in the number of concluded deals with rural properties in 2009 compared to 2008: -41%

2. Change in the average price of rural properties through the years:

Average price and change compared to the previous year:

• 2004 – 11,300 Euro
• 2005 – 15,450 Euro +37%
• 2006 – 18,510 Euro +20%
• 2007 – 24,800 Euro +34%
• 2008 – 30,800 Euro +24%
• 2009 – 14,300 Euro -53.5%

BUYERS AS PER NATIONALITY

25% of the sales of BULGARIAN PROPERTIES are with Bulgarian buyers – they bought properties mainly in Sofia, but also in Varna, Bansko, Plovdiv and Sunny Beach.

75% of the sales of BULGARIAN PROPERTIES are concluded with foreign clients. The biggest group is that of the British buyers who make up 45% of all foreign clients – in 2009 they bought mainly cheap rural properties. Their share increased from 30% to 45% after the prices decreased. 25% of the foreign buyers are Russians and 5% are Russian-speaking clients from other countries – they bought properties mainly in the seaside resorts but were also very active in Bansko. In the second half of 2009 the share of Greek clients increased as they were 5% of all foreign buyers – for now they are mainly interested in Bansko, but also in some rural properties. The other foreign buyers (a total of 20% of all foreign buyers) are from various countries from around the world – France, Italy, Malta, Cyprus, Slovakia, Norway, Syria, the Republic of South Africa, UAE, the USA and many other.

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