Is It Still Possible to Profit from Property in Bulgaria?

Speculative investors bought Bulgarian property well before confirmation was received that Bulgaria would join the EU; so now that Bulgaria's EU entry date has been confirmed as January 2007 have these speculators swallowed up all of the capital gains possible and bought the best rental rate returning real estate? Many would have you believe that this is the case but property investment experts Amberlamb reveal another side to the story – namely that it is still possible to profit, and profit well, from property in Bulgaria.

At which point did property in Bulgaria as an asset class shift in many people's minds from being the absolute must have investment commodity to being an over-hyped asset likely to be left standing empty, unable to be let out or resold? Is the change in attitude towards Bulgarian property accurate? And what's more - why should we care?

Firstly, we should care because many individuals have actually taken the plunge, believed the hype and invested significant sums of their hard earned money into property in Bulgaria in a bid to buy into a marketplace where there is both room for capital growth and demand for property to let for attractive rental returns, and it is unfair to dismissively undermine these people's investments merely on a whim!

Secondly, there remains not only room for impressive annual capital appreciation in Bulgaria for the medium term but the nation has one of the fastest growing tourism markets in the world meaning that it is a hotspot for careful and considered buy to let property investment for the long term…

Bulgarian properties

The general change in the consensus of opinion relating to the attraction of Bulgarian real estate - or lack of it - came about as the annual rate of potential capital appreciation achievable from property dropped from triple digits in 2005 to double digits so far in 2006 – but yet again, let's put that into perspective...yes, at its height the Bulgarian property market was growing so fast that a selective investment made into property could return an investor over 100% gains in one year, but today as base underlying prices have risen from their incredibly low starting point, annual average capital growth is a more realistic but still highly attractive 30 – 35%.

What the media and many property analysts have got entirely right is that it is not possible to profit or generate an income from every single property in Bulgaria and this is perhaps where mistakes have been made in the past – such was the frenzy surrounding the exciting rate at which the property market was expanding in Bulgaria that investors believed they could buy any old piece of real estate and rent it out or flip it and resell it for strong gains. Naturally enough, now that the market in Bulgaria is maturing the old essential aspects of location, location, location have come into effect and only the best located and most desirable properties will let and resell easily making the Bulgarian property market less of an emerging temptation and more of a mature opportunity.

There exists a genuine and growing demand for property in Bulgaria for sale, that tourism in Bulgaria is growing in a sustainable way by up to 22% annually, that double digit capital growth is forecast by leading property analysts for the medium term, that the government of Bulgaria and private investors are continuing to plough substantial funds into the improvement of attractions and infrastructure across the nation and that prices for attractive properties with the best potential for rent and resale are still incredibly low compared to markets such as France, Italy, Spain and Portugal meaning that not only is the Bulgaria property market accessible for more people it is likely to prove profitable for many years to come...