Sofia Property Market Slides 18 Yy Q308

Property deals in the Bulgarian capital slumped by 18% year-on-year in the third quarter of the year compared to a year ago, showed data of the Registry Agency. The downtrend began in the second quarter but the 13% year-on-year rise in the first stemmed the slide to some 4% year-on-year for the nine months. Realtors said the economic turmoil that gripped the world last fall has taken a heavy toll on the Bulgarian property market and made deals very hard to strike. Investment deals have almost died, and homebuyers are taking ages to make a decision, commented Tihomir Tsakov, owner of local real estate agency Aristo. The market tends to slow down with large-scale foreign investors putting off deals for after first-quarter 2009, said Valeri Leviev from consulting company Elta. Sharpest falls in the third quarter were registered in the winter resorts of Bansko and Razlog, which slipped from 18 and 7% year-on-year rises for the first and second quarters, respectively. The third-quarter downtrend spread also to Black Sea towns of Balchik and Kavarna, coastal city Varna and the nation's second largest city of Plovdiv. Black Sea Pomorie and other main cities Burgas, Rouse, Stara Zagora and Blagoevgrad reported growing deal numbers for the review period. Real estate transactions across the country fell by almost 3% year-on-year in the third quarter and less than 2% for the nine months. The market shrank in all three periods.