As reported by Open4Business, the real estate market in Bulgaria continued to cool: in in the third quarter of 2026, 45,312 deals were registered in the country, the lowest figure since at least 2005, for which comparable data from the Bulgarian Registration Agency is available.
Compared to July-September 2025, when 58,184 deals were registered, the market volume decreased by 22.1%. For the first time since 2010, the number of deals fell below 50,000 in the third quarter.
The decline covered almost the entire country. An increase in the number of transactions was recorded in only six of the 113 cities included in the statistics. Among them are Blagoevgrad, where sales increased by 19.8%, and Gotse-Delchev, with an increase of 11.2%.
In Sofia, 7,282 deals were registered in the third quarter, which is 21.2% less than a year earlier. In the Burgas region, the indicator decreased by 14.3% to 2,047 transactions. Both markets actually returned to 2023 levels.
In the Plovdiv region, the number of transactions decreased by 23.9% to 3,356, which was the lowest level since 2013. In Varna, the decrease was 26.3%, and the number of transactions fell below 3 thousand for the first time since 2015.
An even stronger decrease was recorded in a number of resort and regional markets. In Nessebar, where deals in Sunny Beach are also taken into account, their number decreased by 37%. In Razlog, which includes the Bansko market, the drop was 30.4%, in Smolyan - 30.7%, in Chepelari - almost 40%.
For January-September 2026, 129,431 transactions were registered in Bulgaria, which is almost 19% less than a year earlier. For comparison: for the same period in 2025, 159,338 deals were concluded, in 2024 - 152,316, and in 2023 - 153,109. According to the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria, in the second quarter of 2026 house prices increased by 15.5% year-on-year and by 4.5% compared to the first quarter. Bulgaria took second place in the EU in terms of the rate of annual growth of housing prices.
Thus, an unusual situation is emerging on the market: the number of transactions is sharply reduced, but prices continue to rise. This may indicate a decrease in the supply of quality properties, a high proportion of buyers with their own funds, as well as price inertia after significant growth in recent years.
Official primary source: Registration Agency of Bulgaria - Property Registry statistics.
https://open4business.com.ua/kilkist-ugod-z-neruhomistyu-v-bolgariyi-vpala-do-minimumu-z-2005-roku/
