Rising Prices Trigger New Routes to Buyer Success

It's now official! The movement in house prices in Bulgaria has turned from negative to positive ... and this has triggered a flood of new opportunities for property buyers. While the first three months of 2012 saw a decrease of 0.3%, Q2 prices were on the up by a factor of 0.2%. And, significantly, the National Statistical Institute (NSI), reports this increase as the first quarterly growth since the end of 2008, when Q4, 2008 started a spate of 14 successive drops in house prices. At the same time, with a massive 12.48% increase in recorded web search activity, Bulgaria has regained its top 20 spot in the Rightmove Overseas Search Report for July 2012 and has also climbed back up to position 39 in the latest edition of Knight Frank's Global House Price Index. More directly perhaps, leading agents Bulgarian Properties and Property Partners BG have both reported a Q2 increase of around 3% in the average prices of houses and apartments in Sofia. So, what does this mean for buyers? Well - it's pretty clear today that, although prices now appear to be moving in upwards direction, Bulgaria still offers a huge array of Bargain Properties across all price ranges. If you want a low-cost holiday home on the beach or in the mountains, you can snap up a simple studio at around 15000 euro or a 2-bedroom apartment from as little as 30000 euro. A renovated family house in a nice country area but within easy reach of the sea? No problem … yours for around 35000 euro. And if you're looking for a more out-of-the-way village property, ripe for refurbishment … you'll have a fair amount of change from your 8000 to 10000 euro.