Minimal changes confirm housing price stabilisation in Bulgaria in 2012

Data of the National Statistics Institute (NSI) about the apartments in the big cities in Bulgaria in the third quarter of 2012 shows that after the first positive growth since the beginning of the crisis in the second quarter of 2012, the property prices in the third quarter of 2012 have returned to a decrease of -0.46% on a quarterly basis. On an annual basis (compared to 3Q 2011) prices of apartments have decreased by an average of -2.23%.

An important positive trend in 2012 is that both - growth and decline in property prices this year are minimal, which confirms the price stabilisation trend started in the second half of 2011, BULGARIAN PROPERTIES informed about in the beginning of the year.

The real drop in average apartment prices after inflation (calculated with the Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices HICP) is -1.69% compared to the previous quarter and -5.07% year-on-year (compared to the same quarter in 2011).

The average price of an apartment in Bulgaria’s regional cities in the third quarter of 2012 is 450 Euro per sq.m. (about 3 Euro less compared to the previous quarter) and prices in the capital Sofia are still the highest among the big cities.

The prices at which apartments in the big cities were sold in the period July-September 2012 are as follows:

• Sofia – 740 Euro/sq.m.
• Varna – 729 Euro/sq.m.
• Plovdiv – 478 Euro/sq.m.
• Bourgas – 580 Euro/sq.m.
• Stara Zagora – 460 Euro/sq.m.
• Rousse – 449 Euro/sq.m.
• Veliko Тarnovo – 374 Euro/sq.m.

According to NSI data the prices of apartments in Sofia in 3Q 2012 have decreased by -0.69% compared to the previous quarter, as the drop year-on-year is -0.63%. After inflation prices of apartments in Sofia have dropped by -1.91% compared to the previous quarter and by -3.52% compared to the same period last year.

The accumulated nominal price drop of apartments in the regional cities in the last few years since the beginning of the crisis is -37.87%, as in Sofia the accumulated drop is -41.4%. The accumulated real decrease in prices since the beginning of the crisis is -43.83% on average for the country and -47.03% for Sofia.

The detailed data for of the changes in apartment prices in the big cities around the country in 3Q 2012 is as follows:

Nominal and real change of prices compared to the previous quarter:

• Sofia – nominal growth (-0.69%) and real growth (-1.69%)
• Varna – nominal growth (-0.22%) and real growth (-1.45%)
• Plovdiv – nominal growth (-1.66%) and real growth (-2.87%)
• Bourgas – nominal growth (-1.33%) and real growth (-2.55%)
• Stara Zagora – nominal growth (+1.37%) and real growth (+0.12%)
• Rousse – nominal growth (+0.78%) and real growth (-0.46%)
• Veliko Tarnovo – nominal growth (+2.59%) and real growth (+1.33%)

Nominal and real change of prices compared to the same quarter of the previous year

• Sofia – nominal growth (-0.63%) and real growth (-3.52%)
• Varna – nominal growth (-4.52%) and real growth (-7.29%)
• Plovdiv – nominal growth (-4.20%) and real growth (-6.98%)
• Bourgas – nominal growth (-4.10%) and real growth (-6.89%)
• Stara Zagora – nominal growth (+4.51%) and real growth (+1.47%)
• Rousse – nominal growth (+1.36%) and real growth (-1.59%)
• Veliko Tarnovo – nominal growth (+3.46%) and real growth (+0.46%)

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