"Bulgaria is moving with a certain delay from the more active and dynamic real estate markets. The low level of income and the low development of the renovation of our building stock, the large amount of property keep the trends in our country at a slower pace for growth and development, which puts us in the group of affordable housing prices", commented on the topic to BNR Ivan Velkov, member of the Board of BIA and Vice President of the Council of Experts of the International Real Estate Federation.
Despite the fact that the prices of apartments and houses in our country have risen, Bulgaria is well ahead in the world ranking for housing affordability - in 20th place out of over 100 countries. This is according to a global study of the housing markets of the British company for construction materials. The ranking is based on two main indicators - the average price of a house with an area of 100 square meters and the average salary in the country. According to the study for our country, the company estimates that at 100,384 dollars average price per 100 square meters and with an average annual salary of 7,748 dollars, 13 annual average salaries are needed to pay for the property. For comparison, Greece and Romania rank 40th and 43rd, respectively, in the same ranking. In both countries, 17 yearly salaries for housing are required.
"Besides, it turns out that even when a Bulgarian buys a new home, he needs another 30 percent of the amount to put it in order. Therefore, at first glance it seems to foreigners that we are extremely cheap and affordable in terms of housing, but in fact it is not so, that is why the statistics are distorted", commented Ivan Velkov from the Bulgarian Industrial Association.
"Therefore, I can say that in Bulgaria there are no revolutions in the real estate market - either with increases or decreases, the objective truth is a little different. The statistics simply do not cover in depth the changes, volumes and content on this topic - real estate," added Velkov.
