The real estate market in Sofia to re-focus on the areas around potential metro stations

Over the past 18 months in times of economic crisis, substantial changes occurred in the real estate market in the Sofia capital.
The first major change refers to the clearly expressed reduction in the purchasers' interest to some of those neighborhoods considered prestigious as ''Ivan Vazov'', "Iztok'' (East), "the Center". According to data from imoti.net, in the period from August 20 - September 20, 2010, the visits of the people seeking properties in the segment from € 50,000 to € 100,000 were directed mainly to the residence complexes "Mladost" (Youth), "Durvenitsa" (Bug) and "Krasno Selo'' (Red village). The situation is similar in the higher segment pertaining to the real estates worth over € 100,000. There, the interest is aimed towards the south, west and east direction of the town and mainly to houses.

According to brokers, there are several reasons for neighborhoods like ''Mladost 4'', for example, to be more popular than "Ivan Vazov" and "Iztok" residence complexes. First, it comes to the price - upscale neighborhoods keep prices around and over €1,100 per sq m, while in the southern parts of the city the price levels are around €300-350 per sq m lower. The second reason refers to infrastructure. Sofia's inhabitants have already realised the advantages of metro and now the real estates located around the current and future (planned to be built by 2015) tube lines gradually began to enjoy more interest on the side of purchasers.