LM Legal Services Blog

The National Union of the Bulgarian estate agents will propose to the parliament to pass the drafts of the new Law for the Work of the Estate Agents. This project has the support of the Notary Chamber, the Surveyors Chamber, the Builders Chamber and the Confederation of the Customers in Bulgaria. Such kind of law will regulate the business of the estate agents in the country and will impose clear rules and obligations. The new law aims to provide quality service and to establish professional ethics. All members of the union have expressed their readiness to cooperate with the state in its attempt to block all opportunities for money laundering through property purchases and sales.

In 2009 the Russians have spent 11.3 billion USD to buy second homes abroad, according to the review of the department for properties abroad of the Russian estate agency DOKI. Properties in Bulgaria are the most popular among Russians and 21% of the clients of the agency have been interested in buying second homes in Bulgaria for the average price of 42 000 Euros. In second place are properties in Spain, where 17% of the clients of DOKI are prepared to pay on average 178 000 Euros. In third place are properties in Turkey at an average price of 50 000 Euros which attracted the interest of 12% of the clients of the Russian agency, closely followed by properties in the USA and Israel.

Another Russian estate agency MIEL – Distant Property Management revealed similar statistics. Again properties in Bulgaria are the most popular ones among Russians, followed by properties in Turkey, Spain and the Ukraine. This estate agency has divided their clients into three groups. The first one consists of young people under the age of 35 who buy studios and one-bedroom apartments in the price range 25 -70 000 Euros. They prefer Bulgaria in first place, followed by Egypt and The Czech Republic.

The second group are married couples at the age of 35 – 45. The look for one- or two-bedroom apartments for the price of 70-80 000 Euros in Monte Negro, Bulgaria, Spain, Germany, Italy and Turkey.

The third group consist of wealthy people above 45 who spend at least 250 000 Euros. They do not have specific preferences about the location of their property.

According to Bulgarian estate agents in the first half of the year it will be more sensible to rent rather than to buy. Although property prices have decreased in comparison to the last year, they are still high. At the same time, mortgages have become more expensive because of the high interest. As result, mortgage instalments are higher than monthly rents.

However, those who offer their property to tenants can not expect high profits. The number of prospective tenants is on the decrease because of the recession. High number of people from the country who had been looking for work in Sofia have gone back to their home towns and villages as there they can survive better during the recession due to the fact that living costs are cheaper.

On the other hand, those who have bought properties for investment can not sell at the moment and try to rent them. The supply of apartments for rent has increased while the demand has decreased and it is expected that this will lead to the drop of prices and of rents.

It is expected that in the second half of 2009 it will be profitable to buy property. Prices of properties are expected to drop further and by the end of the year it is expected that the mortgage interest will start decreasing, as of 1 January 2009 the Bulgarian National Bank has decreased the basic interest from 5.77 to 5.15, which is the first decrease since June 2005.

In the first months of 2008 rentals have increased by 12% in comparison to the same period of 2007. The major reason for this is the constant decrease of the number of purchases caused by the recession and the lack of clarity about the future of the property market.  More and more potential buyers turn towards renting, rather than buying.  This is due to the restrictive politic of the banks and the growing financial uncertainty, as well as the growing expectations for an upcoming decrease of the property prices.

More and more apartments which have been bought for investment are offered for rent. The one bedroom apartment is the mostly in demand – the interest towards renting such kind of apartments have increased by 14% in the first ten months of this year. At the same time the demand for studios has decreased by 6%. This is due to the fact that the rent of the studios and the one bedroom apartments are similar in size.