Buyers reign the market

Quality holiday homes are offered at average prices between EUR 1,000 and 1,500 per sq m

The buyer is enthroning the market of the holiday homes, in which the successful sales of the projects now depend much more on their quality. The combination of a slowdown in the demand by the British and Irish investors and the record volumes of the construction on the Black Sea coast and in the region of the Pirin mountain, reveal many opportunities for purchases at prices, which start from EUR 800-1,000 per square meter.
Still these cheaper offers in most cases refer to nothing more than four walls and furnishing and can hardly be defined as luxurious. So now sellers compete not only in prices, but also in the quality of the projects, the property management services and rental yields of the properties.
According to developers and agents, the market has changed in the last year as the British and Irish buyers, who dominated in the past, have been replaced by fastidious Russians and other citizens from the ex Soviet Union countries. This led to less demand for undersized studios and apartments in favor of larger and more qualitative properties. Prices in specific areas, where the supply is limited and homes are located within managed complexes, remain high. In the meantime the low end of the market remains unchanged, but the buyers can find quality projects in expensive areas like Bansko at levels between EUR 1,000 and 1,600 per square meter.
Prices in resorts start from EUR 800 - 1,000 per square meter for studios, usually in small buildings with few extras, whose main advantage is the location within town. A furnished 82-sq m unit, located "not far from the town center" could be purchased for EUR 65,440. In the outskirts of Bansko 49 square meters cost EUR 37,885. Large homes are rare, as most of them are around 70-80 square meters. However a 133-sq m apartment decreases the low end price per sq m to just EUR 630.
Realizing that ski is not a sufficient driving force for purchases and investments do not provide great returns, developers are trying to add more and more services to the properties. The extras always include furnishing, parking lots and if the complex permits it, spas and fitness centers, for example. A complete 110-sq m maisonette with a parking lot in building with fitness center and security is sold for EUR 158,000, or EUR 1,436 per sq m.
The levels in a large complex with 145 apartments, which will be delivered in September 2009, are similar (EUR 1,450).
But there are exceptions: furnished two-bedroom 71-sq m apartment in an existing complex with hotel services, a spa and a swimming pool is for sale for EUR 2,014 per square meter.
The average prices around the golf course in Razlog are comparatively high, as the apartments start from EUR 1,000-1,100 per square meter. Buyers could find at these levels homes in new-built complexes, which offer property management. The highest prices are around EUR 1,650-1,750 per sq m. A four-bedroom 153-sq m apartment in a similar complex, which will be completed in the early 2009, is offered at EUR 1,264 per square meter.
Prices in the area of Borovets, where the supply is still scanty, start from EUR 1,300-1,400 per square meter.
The highest price is EUR 2,444 per sq m for a complete and furnished 54-sq m ski apartment in the center of the resort. However, a large 179-sq m home with spa and fitness center and an indoor pool in the complex could be purchased for EUR 1,200 per square meter.
Prices in the fourth ski resort, which offers plenty of new builds, Pamporovo, are more similar to Bansko, than to Borovets and Razlog. Still, the supply is not at the levels of Bansko, and prices start from some EUR 1,000 per sq m, but do not exceed the levels of the Pirin resort.
There aren’t any unexpected changes in the prices in the winter and sea resorts. The projects in the high end gradually move out from the overpopulated places and are found mostly in the free territories in the North Black Sea coast - Byala, Balchik and Kavarna.