House prices in Bulgaria jumped 18.3% in Q4 2024 y/y, highest increase in EU
House prices in Bulgaria in the fourth quarter of 2024 were 18.3 per cent higher than in Q4 2023, European Union statistics agency Eurostat said on April 8.
This was the highest increase on an annual basis in the EU in Q4 2024, with Bulgaria followed by Hungary (13 per cent) and Portugal (11.6 per cent).
Between Q4 2023 and Q4 2024, house prices rose by 4.9 in the EU and 4.2 per cent in the euro zone, according to Eurostat (which in its reports on the topic refers to “house” rather than “housing” prices).
The trend of an increase in house prices in Bulgaria continued throughout 2024, going by Eurostat’s figures.
Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, house prices in Bulgaria rose by 16 per cent in the first quarter, 15.1 per cent in the second quarter and 16.5 per cent in the third quarter. In all cases, these increases were well above the EU averages.
Current demand in Bulgaria is reported to be driven by buyers wanting to purchase real estate before Bulgaria’s possible accession to the euro zone in 2026. However, for decades real estate prices in Bulgaria are quoted in euro rather than the domestic currency the lev.
In a separate report on April 8, Eurostat said that comparing the fourth quarter of 2024 with 2010, house prices in Bulgaria increased by 115 per cent.
This was not the highest increase in an EU country over that period time. The increase in Bulgaria was lower than in Hungary (234 per cent), Estonia (228 per cent), Lithuania (187 per cent), Latvia (153 per cent), Czechia (142 per cent) and Portugal (120 per cent).
Analysts expect housing prices in Bulgaria to continue to increase throughout 2025.
In an interview with Bulgarian news agency BTA on March 21, Alexander Alexandrov, head of the Association of Credit Intermediaries in Bulgaria, said that there was a revival in the country’s real estate market and this was influenced by the approaching date of entry into the euro zone.
On Bulgaria’s entry to the euro zone – which is pencilled in for January 2026, Alexandrov said: “’There won’t be any big upward shocks, but we can’t expect lower house prices either”.
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