What EUR 300,000 buy

For a unique property prepare a little bit more

The price per square meter says too little about the value of a residential property to mean anything. This is evidenced by the offers for two apartments on one and the same street in the Doctor’s Garden, Sofia's premium neighborhood, which have been offered for sale for EUR 2,700 and EUR 3,170 per sq m, each of them with two bedroom, but the first home situated on the first floor of a building and the other on the third.
Both apartments are offered for EUR 305,000, a price, which definitely is not low, compared to the EUR 100,000 needed for a small two-bedroom in average area in Sofia, as the properties are also far from the idea of luxury, once the location is not taken into consideration. The comparatively new kitchen furnishing and the PVC frameworks, presented at the photos in the Internet offers, mean that the owners have spent some efforts to defend the obviously high price. However, the condition of the common areas demonstrates that long years of insufficient maintenance could not be compensated to the extent to which the prestigious neighborhoods in the capital could praise with prestigious enough properties.
For an investor with long-term view this is not such a problem - the center will always remain top location and will always provide opportunities for comparatively high incomes from rents. Without any efforts such an apartment could be leased for an initial annual rent of EUR 6,000, which will add to an expected increases of the price, as demand remains stable and there is hardly any supply in central locations. However, a buyer who demands high quality will examine alternatives in the new developments or the possibility of even buying a house far from the center of Sofia. At a price similar to the one of the mentioned apartments a two-bedroom residential unit is offered the last, ninth floor in a building on Cherni Vrah Blvd., between Lozenets district and the ring road. Its price is EUR 312,000. The building, which will be completed in the middle of 2009, will have its own spa and an indoor pool. The price per sq m is some EUR 2,400, which covers the built-up area and the share of the flat in the common areas. The parking space costs just under EUR 15,000 and double parking spaces are offered at below EUR 20,000.
With a similar location, again with its own spa and indoor pool, another scheme in the area offers variety of units at even lower prices - up to EUR 1,400 per sq m without VAT, or EUR 1,700 per sq m final price. Developers with similar projects in the upper parts of the boulevard have signaled they will try to get closer to the values of the schemes in the more central area of Lozenets. Levels of EUR 3,000 per sq m for a residential unit near Kempisnski do not surprise anyone anymore and some of the newest projects around the US embassy in the South Park have even higher prices.
Buyers in Plovdiv, the second biggest city, can receive a little bit more for their money. There, apartments in the good areas could be found at prices even under EUR 1,000 per sq m. In the meantime, there are prestigious units like the EUR 850,000-penthouse, located near the Novotel, with 400- sq m built-up area. And meanwhile much less, EUR 320,000 could provide enough comfort for the buyer of a house with 420-sq m built-up area in the Belomorski-Ostromila district, which includes four bedrooms, special premises for fitness and laundry and furnishing.
In Varna, a furnished 100-sq m apartment in Gratska Mahala has been offered for EUR 330,000. Another 122-sq m unit with a sea view, located in the Sea Garden, costs EUR 365,000 with the furniture. However, there are more expensive units, even far from the center. In a building under construction in the Briz district, just opposite the Piccadilly Park retail center, a 207-sq m unit is for sale for more than EUR 500,000.