Sofia Real Estate Market in 2009
Not even the best financial and property experts in the world can truly predict what will happen on the Bulgarian property market during year 2009, which just started. The predictions for the average property prices in both UK and France have dropped with -15 %, a figure which is shocking and discouraging. Bulgaria however did not have expectations for massive growth of the GDP and thus is likely to experience a slight increase. The report of the International Monetary Fund showed that the economy of the country has continued its slow pace up in the first nine months of the previous year, despite the signs that the growth will go down.
One of the main indicators of the property prices and the rental prices is of course the tourism, which currently shows a significant growth of 20 %. According to the reputable Daily Telegraph, the Bulgarian capital and its winter resorts are expected to be even more in demand because of the value for money they can offer. Actually, the popular magazine ‘A Place in the Sun’ recommended the country as one of the hot spots for affordable properties and a safe place from “the falling pound”.
Today the real estate market is a buyers market. There are still foreigners possessing cash money who are looking to invest in a market that is reaching the bottom, waiting for the prices to group. This group of investors is to be joined by the mortgage buyers who are currently been restricted by the banks. Soon these solid financial institutions will realize that lending should be set free otherwise the business will stay stagnant and finally fail. When the mortgages are available again, new investors will step on the property market in Bulgaria as compared to the rest of the European destinations, the country has a very cheap cost of living, cheap entry prices, long-term capital growth and excellent value for the money spent. The Google statistics released in the very end of 2008, ranked Bulgaria in sixth place in the global property searches list.
The expectations for the property market in Sofia and generally Bulgaria are expected to grow even if at a slower rate than the one seen in the last few years. The rental market is also expected to expand, due to the fact that many travelers are now looking for a visit as the country provides a combination of cheap accommodation, excellent nature and significant cultural and historical experience.
To sum the information up, it might be said that the property market in Bulgaria is stable due to the fact that the locals have own homes most of them without mortgage, little debt and loans. However the country can not be unaffected by the global crisis, which will hold the local property market in the first months of the year. An increase in the property investment is likely to happen in the second half of the year and to go further up in 2010.
