The trend towards an increase in the empty housing stock in the center of the capital of Bulgaria has been observed for several years. This statement was made on the air of Bloomberg TV Bulgaria the other day by an expert in the national real estate market Kaloyan Bogdanov. In his opinion, most of the owners of "abandoned" apartments either live outside the country or own a large number of square meters, some of which are not used. Another reason lies in the plane dilapidated housing. "On the one hand, prices for apartments in the center remain high, which prevents their mass buyout, on the other hand, there are quite a lot of owners who do not use their real estate," says Mr. Bogdanov.
At the same time, according to the expert, The trend towards an increase in the "uninhabitability" of apartments in the capital center is only increasing. "It has come to the point that in some houses people live in only 30% of apartments, while the rest are empty," the expert said. This, in his opinion, creates problems for entire buildings and residents living in them, who are forced to pay for their maintenance in a residential condition. "Although The owners could well rent out their square meters – daily for 40-50-60 BGN. and higher, or in the long term" – Mr. Bogdanov believes.
In his opinion, the demand for housing in the center of the capital is supported by low-cost airlines that deliver a large number of tourists to the Bulgarian capital every day. "When an apartment is not in use, its depreciation is faster. It is better to sell it," the expert is convinced.
* According to statistics, in the first four months of 2017 alone, the capital of Bulgaria was visited by 17.87% more tourists than in the same period last year. The average annual income of the owner of one bed in Sofia reached the amount of BGN 10,954. (3 744 BGN in the country). According to the results of 2016, the average bill per night in the capital was 73 BGN. with an average of 49 BGN in the country.
Specialists of the real estate agency "Imoteka" (hereinafter referred to as AN) agree with the opinion of Kaloyan Bogdanov. They also note the growth of empty housing in the center of Sofia, in other words, "dark windows". In some cases, according to brokers, their share in some buildings exceeds 60%. And this is happening despite the growing general demand for housing in the capital of Bulgaria, answer in AN. The most "central" square meters are outside the real estate market of the capital, which negatively affects not only the supply-demand ratio, but also the general condition of the city's housing stock, according to Imotek.
Lyuba Atanasova, Executive Director of the Academy of Sciences, believes that it is the "dark windows" that will determine the future of the market in the central districts of the capital. "If we want to make Sofia an attractive city where old architecture is valued and maintained, it is necessary to get rid of the tradition of holding on to real estate at all costs," said Ms. Atanasova. In her opinion, it is possible to breathe new life into such housing by renting out or changing ownership. Which, according to realtors, is not always easy. With the second option, there are often such problems as the lack of correct title documents, the owners (heirs) do not agree on the issue of real estate prospects, etc.
At the same time, the agency notes the growing demand for housing in the central districts of Sofia. Most often, the goal of investors is to purchase square meters for daily rent of apartments through Airbnb and Booking.com services. The most attractive areas of Sofia for investment for these purposes according to the Academy of Sciences are as follows:
Source: Imoteka
We wrote about how much life in the Bulgarian capital will cost In this article. What is more profitable – to buy or rent real estate in Bulgaria you will find out From this publication. Don't forget to visit Our catalog real estate objects from the owners.
Based on materials: Bloomberg TV Bulgaria, dnes.bg, money.bg
MC "Window to Bulgaria"
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