Property prices in some neighbourhoods in Sofia have gone up by 40%

Property prices above 120,000 euros are unaffordable for people working on employment contracts, said Strahil Ivanov, a property agent.

According to him, the property market in the country has been in a boom of purchases, interest and prices for a year.

In Sofia, the average price increase is 29%. There are neighbourhoods in the capital where the rise is by 40%.

"These are "Centre", "Iztok", the southern districts and the former "Hladilnika", which is now called "Paradise". These are the places where prices and interest in properties are extremely high. At the same time, infrastructure and parking problems have negative effects," Ivanov said.

According to Georgi Shopov, the biggest problem is the inflation in construction. Before the war it was 27%. Before the war, the price of reinforcing iron, which is the main product in housing construction, jumped from BGN 1.5 to BGN 1.70 in a year. At present it is BGN 2.60. This is a speculative rise because of the shortage in supply from ukraine, which is 20% of the iron used in Bulgaria, Shopov said.

However, he said, ships with construction iron have set sail from all over the world and this will be overcome. A normalisation of prices is expected and they should become BGN 1.70 again.