The boom in building residential housing in Bulgaria is yet to come

If you think the housing boom in our country is in full swing, just wait for the next few years.

The number of issued permits for construction of new residential buildings in our country increased by 29% on an annual basis in the third quarter of this year, the dwellings in them jumping by 44.5% and their built-up area is 47.2% more than the same period of last year, according to the National Statistical Institute.

Thus, in the third quarter of this year, local authorities issued permits for the construction of 1 526 residential buildings with 7 135 dwellings in them and 934 851 sq. M of unfolded built-up area. Compared to the previous quarter, building permits issued for residential buildings decreased by 7.3%, while the number of dwellings in them increased by 22.7% and their total built-up area by 19.6%.

These figures seriously call into question the so-called boom in property prices in Bulgaria, as it seems that the supply of properties is on the way to meeting the demand, which would hardly raise prices to levels that some real estate agencies predict.

The largest number of permits for construction of new residential buildings are issued in Sofia (capital city) - 262, Plovdiv - 239, Varna - 154, and Sofia - 111. Most homes are to be started in Sofia (capital) 2 432, Plovdiv - 1 371, Varna - 751, and Burgas - 636.

In the third quarter of 2017, the construction of 982 residential buildings with 3,409 dwellings and 451,460 sq. M of built-up area began.
Compared to the third quarter of 2016, the new residential buildings started to grow by 18.3%, their dwellings by 8.4% and their built-up area by 14.1%.

Construction of the largest number of new buildings (residential, office, etc.) started in the following areas: Plovdiv - 165 residential and 80 other buildings; Sofia (capital) - 135 residential, 4 administrative and 27 other buildings; Varna - 85 residential and 38 other buildings; Stara Zagora - 73 residential and 47 other buildings.
Against the backdrop of livelihoods in the field of housing, the construction of offices and other buildings is declining.

In the third quarter of this year, permits were issued for the construction of 28 administrative buildings / offices with 39 133 square meters of total built-up area and 1 221 other buildings with 713 207 sq. M.

On an annual basis, the number of issued building permits for administrative buildings decreased by 45.1% and their total built-up area by 58.7%. For other types of buildings, the number of issued permits increased by 4.4% and their total built-up area by 0.4%