The first quarter of 2019 was weak in terms of the number of real estate transactions in the country, only in Burgas and Varna the trend was up by nearly 6 percent.

This was announced in Burgas by Dobromir Ganev, Chairman of the National Association "Real Estate", during the opening of the fifth anniversary edition of "Property Expo" in Burgas in the expo center "Flora".

"In Plovdiv the drop in transactions is 16%, in Sofia the growth is zero," Ganev added.

He said construction activity is also influencing the market with more projects and more building permits and new construction. New construction is the most sought after in the housing market.

"Consumers should be careful with green purchases and at a very early stage," Ganev said.

An extremely complicated process is the purchase and sale, and it is even more complicated when it comes to new construction, the chairman of the NSSI is adamant.

Small and medium-sized projects are likely to be risky, especially those that rely on greenfield sales. Get professional help, don't be nihilistic about this process - acquiring property 'greenfield'.

2018 was the weakest year for transactions - only 212 000. There hasn't been a similar drop since 2008. The decline is due to fewer farmland transactions, not the housing market.

Ganev, however, said that 2019 is expected to be a good year in the property market, predicting an increase in property prices.

"The activity of banks also affects the housing market. It is not risky to raise interest rates on loans. The increase will be more gradual," Ganev further analysed.

Source: NSNI