Rents of residential properties in Bulgaria are following suit with the rising prices of properties in the country, although at a much slower pace. Rents continue to be highest in the capital city Sofia, and in Varna, shows statistics by imot.bg .

The reason for high rents in the capital is that the average salary there is the highest in the country, which draws more and more people to move to the capital city in search of better income. In Varna rents continue to stay high because of the growing demand during the tourist season.

The latter is also true for Burgas, which is the second biggest city on the Black Sea coast.

The average rent in Varna (based on rates for one- two- and three-bedroom apartments in the city) stands at 285 euros per month in June, while in Sofia it is at 266 euros.

Rents in Sofia actually declined in June - by 1.3% year-on-year, which might be interpreted as a confirmation of the expected slow-down in real estate prices in the capital alalysts warned about.

This is due to the fact, that there is a certain positive correlation between prices of properties and rent rates, which might not appear immediately but will definitely surface even after a certain period of time.

In case rents start lagging behind the rising property prices, we are likely to have less demand for properties, since many people buy such with the aim of making profit by renting them.

As we all know the level of rent is also bound to the income of the population.

In Varna rents did not increase significantly over the past 12 months - they added just 4.9%.

The biggest increases were in Burgas and Ruse, mainly due to their lower levels a year ago.

In Burgas rents rose 10.1% to 196 euros, already catching up with Varna and Sofia, and in Ruse rents jumped 9.7% to 147 euros.