Citizens of Ukraine and Russia are among the top ten largest foreign buyers of housing in Bulgaria in 2024-2025, according to a study by the Experts Club Analytical Centre and data from the Bulgarian Real Estate Association.
According to the study, the top 10 countries whose citizens are most active in buying property in Bulgaria are as follows: UK, Germany, Greece, Israel, Romania, Turkey, Italy, Russia, Ukraine and Poland.
Foreigners form a noticeable share of transactions on the housing market. One of the international analytical resources estimates that the number of foreign buyers of residential property in Bulgaria in 2024-2025 has increased by about 18%, and the overall market is showing a steady increase in prices. According to local experts, the percentage of foreigners in some coastal projects may reach 30% of the total number of buyers.
Foreign buyers are most interested in properties on the Black Sea coast – in Varna, Burgas and Nessebar – as well as in the mountain resorts of Bansko and Pamporovo, where property is considered both for their own holidays and as an investment for rent.
Analysts note that Ukrainians are firmly entrenched in the top 10 due to a combination of relocation and investment demand: some buyers see Bulgaria as a safe EU jurisdiction for the period of war, some – as an opportunity to earn income from renting out accommodation in tourist regions.
The growth of foreign demand supports the increase in prices: over the last year the cost of housing in Bulgaria’s seaside resorts has increased by 8-10% on average, and in Sofia – by 7-10%.
At the same time, according to the assessment of the European Commission and a number of analytical reviews, housing in Bulgaria in 2025 is overvalued by about 10-15% relative to the fundamentals, but experts are not yet talking about a critical “bubble” in the market.
In the perspective of 2-3 years, the analysts of Experts Club expect the interest of foreigners in Bulgarian property to continue, but with a change in the structure of demand: the share of buyers from the EU, Ukraine and Israel, according to their estimates, will grow, while the role of Russian buyers in new transactions may continue to decline against the background of sanctions and restrictions on capital movement.
According to the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria and International Surveys, in the second half of 2024, housing prices in the country increased by 15 per cent year-on-year and by 87 per cent compared to 2015. At the same time, the average price per square metre in the country remains noticeably lower than in most EU countries, which makes Bulgaria one of the most affordable property markets in the Union for foreign investors.
Russian citizens traditionally occupy a significant share among the owners, primarily on the coast. According to Bulgarian resources, in the Burgas region alone, officially registered more than 5.2 thousand objects owned by Russians, while in the country as a whole we are talking about several tens of thousands of property units. At the same time, in recent years the share of new purchases by Russians has been decreasing, while some properties are being brought to the market and bought out by Bulgarian and Western European buyers.