The price of the building plots in Bulgaria rose 4 times in 2005
Agricultural land meant for another purpose and building plots increased in value about 4 times over in 2005.
The average cost of such plots for the country was 28.499 BGN (14.500 EUR)/1000 sq.m for the last 12 months, while a year earlier the price was going round 7.585 BGN (3.800 EUR)/1000 sq.m.
This data is provided by the Annual Report of the Ministry of Agriculture, presented yesterday by the Vice-Minister,Mrs.Svetla Bachvarova.
According to this report, the buiding plots in the south-east region of the country reached the highest rates, especially the ones near the Black Sea coast, where 1000 sq.m. cost about 71.000 BGN. A year before 1000 sq.m. located in the same area were being sold at a price slightly above 9.000 BGN (4.500 EUR).
66 345 transactions of land were carried out in 2005, 20% more than in 2004. 59 434 hectares were bought and sold, being the average plot with dimensions near 1 hectare.
The main part, 94%, of the transactions performed were related to agricultural land. Just 7 009 sales inolved change of the use, as provided in the report.
According to Mrs.Svetla Bachvarova, the expected EU-accession of Bulgaria and the adjacent EU-funding for agriculture producers are the main factors that are to be considered when explaining the much higher number of transactions of land parcels meant for agriculture production than the transactions of building plots.
Other factor that affects the real estate market is the expectation that as soon as Bulgaria becomes a EU-member, the land will increase in value significantly. That is the reason why many land owners would not sell, unless they need to, as it is shown in the Ministry’s report.
The average price of agriculture land for 2005 was 169 BGN (85 EUR)/1000 sq.m., which is 25% more than the precedent year. The highest rates were registered in the North East region (Dobrudja) and arround Plovdiv City, where good conditions for agriculture and major land groups are available.
Most transactions with building land were performed in South-West Bulgaria and arround Sofia - 2279 plots. 1500 purchase-sale operations were completed in the South-Central region and almost the same number of deals with land located in North-East Bulgaria was made, mainly in the coastal area. Talking about coastal plots, North Coast region is where more land was sold in 2005: 1673 hectares totally.
It is expected that the land market will keep its increasing rhythm and the prices will continue to rise, just like purchase-sale operations of land. For some regions this may mean a growth of up to 40%, as Vice-Minister Bachvarova stated. Where most noticeable this growth is anticipated to be, is the North-West region of Bulgaria.