Bulgaria property: Sales drop 22% in third quarter, steepest fall in Varna
The Registry Agency recorded 45,312 property sales in the third quarter of 2026, down 22.1% year on year, an analysis shows. Sales fell 26.3% in Varna and 14.3% in Burgas.
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Property sales in Bulgaria keep falling. In the third quarter of 2026, the state Registry Agency recorded 45,312 sales, down 22.1% from a year earlier and 1.4% from the previous quarter, according to an analysis by broker ARCO Real Estate. From January to September, sales totaled 129,431, compared with 159,338 in the same period of 2025. The data cover all property, not only homes.
Among the big cities, the year-on-year drop was steepest in Varna (26.3%), followed by Plovdiv (23.9%), Sofia (21.2%) and Burgas (14.3%). In Sofia, sales also fell 17.9% from the second quarter, while in Burgas they rose 12.6%. According to Eurostat, home sales in Bulgaria fell 18.1% year on year in the second quarter, the third-largest decline in the EU after Luxembourg and Croatia.
Fewer sales do not automatically mean lower prices. Eurostat's index of the cost of acquiring owner-occupied housing rose 11.7% year on year in Bulgaria in the second quarter, against an EU average of 4.4%. The average interest rate on new housing loans was 2.42% in August, according to the Bulgarian National Bank. Evgeni Vasilev of broker SORENDA Real Estate said buyers negotiated a discount in about 70% of the firm's deals, usually around 5%.
This article is for information only and is not legal, tax, financial or medical advice. Figures as of the date stated.