Bulgarian properties prices have raised more that 200 per cent on average over the past ten years, according to Bulgarian National Statistical Institute(NSI).
Prices of Bulgarian properties in some regional centers had been rising rapidly between 2000 and the third quarter of 2008, before staging a sustained decline, producing an average growth of 201 per cent in the decade. In the city of Silistra was registered the largest increase, of 330 per cent. Followed by Kurdjali and Turgovishte with 310 per cent. Real Estate prices in these cities were below average levels nationwide in 2000 at about 150BGN per sq.m, compensating the low cost with a faster growth in prices in subsequent years to catch up with the average rates in the country.
Bulgarian property prices in the capital- Sofia recovered 171 per cent increase for 2000 to 2010, while the Bulgarian real estate in Varna and Burgas witnessed 237 per cent growth.
Between the third quarter of 2008, when housing prices reached their peak, and the last quarter of 2010, the market saw an average decline in costs of 33 per cent, with the average price for Sofia homes dropping by 36.6 per cent in the period.
The first two years of the past decade registered a negligible increase in property prices. In 2003, the Bulgarian real estate market saw the first double-digit annual rise in prices, which further advanced to 47 per cent the next year. In 2005, the rising was again considerable, but slowed down to 14.7 per cent in 2006. The price rising in 2007 and 2008 rose again to 28 per cent and 24 per cent, respectively, before witnessing a decline of 22 per cent in 2009 and 10 per cent in 2009 and 2010.
The number of construction permits issued in Bulgaria dropped by 56 per cent in 2010 compared with 2007, NSI figures showed.