Greek Property Invasion

Over the past two years, Greece has staged a “real onslaught” onto the Bulgarian and other Balkan markets, Greek business newspaper Imerisia reported on May 7.

Greek construction companies, mainly from the northern part of the country, have been building large residential, office and retail developments in Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and, recently, Macedonia.

At the same time, hundreds of individual investors have been buying homes, which they either rent or use for recreation.

Despite the recent spike in Bulgaria, Greek buyers still believe local property prices to be affordable, Imerisia said.

Greek buyers are most interested in property in the coastal Varna and Bourgas, as well as the ski resort of Bansko. While the price cap for coastal property is 2700 euro a sq m, in mountain resorts it hovers at around 570-590 euro a sq m.

Greece is not as keen on other Balkan states because of the surge of property prices in recent years. A new apartment in Bucharest, for example, sells at 1700 euro a sq m, whereas Serbian rates are comparable to those in Greece, at about 2200 euro a sq m.sofiaecho.com