site.btaQ3 Housing Prices Rise Further to 15.6% Y/Y

The National Statistical Institute Thursday published its Housing Price Index data, showing that housing prices in the third quarter of 2022 rose by 15.6% compared to a year earlier, and by 4.1% compared to the second quarter of 2022.

The Q3 year-on-year increase was the largest so far this year, after 11.5% in Q1 and 14.6% in Q2. As a result, 2022 has seen the highest increase in real estate prices since 2008.

The data cover transactions involving flats and houses regardless of the purpose - living, investment or rental, and do not reflect sales of luxury properties. Also, the data comprise sales of both new and existing homes. The prices of newly built homes rose by 12.6% and of existing homes by 17.4% year on year. 

The Q3 housing price rise was the second largest quarterly increase in 2022. It fell between 5.2% in Q1 compared to Q4 of 2021, and 3.1% in Q2 compared to Q1 of 2022.

Of the cities whose population exceeds 120,000, Sofia had the highest annual increase in the third quarter at 18.6%, followed by Ruse (12.9%), Varna (12.8%), Burgas (12.3%), Plovdiv (12.1%) and Stara Zagora (11.1%).