The central regions of Sofia retained their top spot in the ranking of highest real estate property prices in the capital city as at the end of the first half of 2008, a survey conducted by Address real estate agency shows.

The average residential property price in the central parts of the capital stood at 1,808 euros per sq. m, up by 16.72% compared to the year-ago period.

Iztok residential district ranked second with an average residential property price of 1,318 euros per sq. m, which represents an increase of 11.48% year on year.

Borovo occupies the number three spot with an average price of 1,317 euros per sq. m, up by 18.28% year on year.

The average residential property price in the Beli Brezi residential disrict stood at 1,243.86 euros per sq. m, marking the highest year on year growth of 27.24%.

The prices in Studentski Grad residential district also registered a considerable increase compared to the year-ago period. The prices in the district rose by 23.46% to 1,171 euros per sq. m.

Residential property prices in Gorna Banya saw the smallest year on year increase of 8.66% to 785.34 euros per sq. m in the first half of the year. The prices i Nadezhda went up by 9.3% to 918 euros, while residential properties in Manastirski Livadi appreciated by 9.85% to 1,134 euros.

Moderno Predgradie holds the lowest average residential property price in Sofia at 773 euros per sq. m.

Avg residential property prices in SofiaDistrictJuly-Dec 2007Jan-June 2008GrowthDowntown1549,091808,1216,72%Iztok1183,021318,7911,48%Borovo1113,551317,0718,28%Beli Brezi977,541243,8627,24%Studentski Grad948,251170,7223,46%Manastirski Livadi1032,931134,669,85%Vitosha953,251123,7117,88%Mladost879,821099,7425,00%Lyulin766,04931,6821,62%Nadezhda840,49918,629,30%Druzhba 765,51902,9217,95%Gorna Banya722,76785,348,66%Moderno Predgradie649,92772,9918,94%

* Data by Address

Two-bedroom apartments accounted for 40.3% of the overall demand in the fist half of 2008. Three-bedroom apartments were the second most sought after type of property accounting for 29% of the total demand.

The demand for one-bedroom apartments was relatively poor (8.6%).

Stores accounted for 5.5% of the demand for real estate properties in Sofia in the first half of the year.

Demand by type of real estate property
TypeShare of the totalGarage0,65%Two-bedroom apt40,28%One-bedroom apt8,58%Storey of a house0,11%Public house0,65%Agricultural land0,43%House2,82%Store 5,54%Penthouse0,76%Multi-bedroom apt3,04%Office2,28%Plot5,10%Building0,33%Warehouse0,22%Studio0,11%Three-bedroom apt28,99%Hotel0,11%Total100,00%

* Data by Address