Ukrainians have entered the top 10 foreign buyers of real estate in Bulgaria

Citizens of Ukraine and Russia are among the ten largest foreign buyers of housing in Bulgaria in 2024–2025, according to a study by the analytical center Experts Club and data from the Bulgarian Real Estate Association show.

According to the study, the top 10 countries whose citizens most actively buy real estate in Bulgaria are as follows: the UK, Germany, Greece, Israel, Romania, Turkey, Italy, Russia, Ukraine and Poland.

Foreigners account for a notable share of transactions on the housing market. According to an estimate by one of the international analytical resources, the number of foreign buyers of residential real estate in Bulgaria grew by about 18% in 2024–2025, and the market as a whole is showing steady price growth. According to local experts, the percentage of foreigners in some coastal projects can reach 30% of the total number of buyers.

Properties on the Black Sea coast – in Varna, Burgas and Nesebar – as well as in the mountain resorts of Bansko and Pamporovo, where real estate is considered both for personal vacations and as an investment for rental, attract the greatest interest from foreign buyers.

Analysts note that Ukrainians have firmly established themselves in the top 10 thanks to a combination of relocation and investment demand: some buyers see Bulgaria as a safe EU jurisdiction for the duration of the war, others as an opportunity to earn income from renting out housing in tourist regions.

Growing foreign demand supports rising prices: over the past year the cost of housing in Bulgaria’s seaside resorts has risen by 8–10% on average, and in Sofia by 7–10%.

At the same time, according to the European Commission and a number of analytical reviews, housing in Bulgaria was overvalued in 2025 by roughly 10–15% relative to fundamentals, yet experts are not yet speaking of a critical “bubble” in the market.

Over a horizon of 2–3 years, analysts Experts Club expect foreigners’ interest in Bulgarian real estate to persist, but with a change in the structure of demand: by their estimates, the share of buyers from the EU, Ukraine and Israel will grow, while the role of Russian buyers in new deals may continue to shrink amid sanctions and restrictions on capital movement.

According to the National Statistical Institute of Bulgaria and international reviews, housing prices in the country rose by 15% year-on-year in the second half of 2024, and by 87% compared with 2015. At the same time, the average price per square meter in the country remains noticeably lower than in most EU countries, which makes Bulgaria one of the most affordable real estate markets in the Union for foreign investors.

Russian citizens traditionally account for a notable share of owners, primarily on the coast. According to Bulgarian sources, in the Burgas region alone more than 5.2 thousand properties owned by Russians are officially registered, while across the country the figure runs to several tens of thousands of properties. At the same time, in recent years the share of new purchases by Russians has been declining, and some properties are being put on the market and bought by Bulgarian and western European buyers.