Why Foreigners Are Selling Bulgarian Property Again: Trend Analysis
In recent years, the real estate market in Bulgaria has been experiencing important changes. According to the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB), foreign investors, particularly Russians, are once again actively selling their real estate in the country. This is due to a number of economic and geopolitical factors.
Decline in real estate investment
One of the key factors is the sharp decline in foreign direct investment in Bulgaria. In January-July 2023, the net flow of foreign investment in real estate was negative, reaching -9.9 million euros. Overall, the net flow in recent months was -1.6 million euros. These data indicate a general trend of foreign investors leaving the market.
Total volume of foreign investments in Bulgaria
Despite this, the total volume of foreign direct investment in the country for the period January-July 2024 still remained positive and amounted to 604.3 million euros. However, this is a significant decrease compared to the same period last year, when the volume of investments amounted to 2.5 billion euros. The 76% drop shows the scale of the problem.
In July 2024, the inflow of foreign investment reached 171.6 million euros, which is also less than 569 million euros in July 2023.
Leaders in investment volumes
Some countries continue to invest actively in Bulgaria. In the period from January to July 2024, the largest sources of foreign direct investment were the Netherlands (EUR 269.5 million), Austria (EUR 225 million) and Greece (EUR 160.5 million). These countries remain the main players on the Bulgarian market.
On the other hand, the countries with the largest investment outflows include Russia, with a negative net flow of -184.4 million euros, and Poland, with an outflow of -84.8 million euros. This suggests that political and economic instability in these countries may influence their decisions to sell real estate in Bulgaria.
