The latest trend in Bulgaria's property market is the rapidly increasing construction of residential developments of several hundred flats in the suburbs of large cities. Though there are often referred to as gated, or closed-type, communities, not all of them are literally fenced-off and with limited access. Many are simply large clusters of housing units and mixed-use facilities, which make the developments self-sufficient, more or less.
The first to witness the new phenomenon was Sofia where housing districts of 400 or 500, sometimes even exceeding 1000, apartments are no longer rare to find. Gradually, on a lesser scale, Plovdiv and Varna are also following suit, Svetoslava Georgieva, COO of Address Real Estate, explained.
In most cases these housing developments are built on plots that have been bought a year or two ago, but developers have been purposefully waiting to see how property prices would perform after Bulgaria's accession to the EU.
In Sofia, Winslow Gardens, a project in Manastirski Livadi that will encompass 450 residential units, is a fine example of such development. Even larger establishments have been planned in areas that have been traditionally considered as less attractive, such as: Lyulin, Drujba, Levski.
The implementation of Orchid Hills project, which will consist of 800 apartments, is well underway in Varna's district Vazrajdane. Maritsa Gardens' construction has already begun in Plovdiv. It will have 550 flats.
The basic risk these investments could face is the expansive supply of homes in big towns but internal migration and competitive home financing bank policies will balance the market.
