A total of 309,788 transactions with immovable property were carried out in Bulgaria in 2008, which is by 4.79 per cent less than in 2007 when 325,385 such transactions were conducted, Phoros real estate agency says in an analysis made available to BTA.

Foreign direct investment in real property in January-September totaled 1,190.5 million euros, which is 33.34 per cent less than the like period in 2007. Foreign direct investment in construction fell by nearly 28 per cent and totaled 405.2 million leva.

The selling prices of residential property grew by an average of 14.88 per cent in 2008, attributed to the brisk growth on the market in the first half of the year, followed by a slowdown in almost any town at the end of the second half.

The price of rents of residential property increased by 4.74 per cent.

A large quantity of residential housing was completed in 2008. The greatest amount of residential areas were in Sofia, 985,484 sq m, Varna, on the Black Sea, 210,775 sq m, and Plovdiv, Southern Bulgaria, 115,898 sq m.

The average yield of housing property in Bulgaria as at the end of 2008 was 6.34 per cent, the same as the average in Europe. The yield in Sofia was 5.89 per cent, Varna, 4.97 per cent, and Plovdiv, 4.86 per cent.

Source: BTA