Comparison of Luxury properties in Sofia and London
Prices of Luxury real estates in Sofia are about 25 percent more affordable that Luxury property prices in the capital of Great Britain. London is the absolute world record-holder in price levels of luxury real estates. If the average price of luxury property in London is $ 53 890 per sq.m, then in the Bulgarian capital- Sofia is $2 650 per sq.m and in Dallas is 6 450 per sq.m.This information is quoted in a report of the international company for the sale of luxury properties- Christe’s.
Christie’s study was focused on 10 cities in the world indentified as the most desirable and expensive places- New York, Dallas, Miami, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Paris, San Francisco, Toronto and Cote d’Azur. This research includes about 33 000 properties worth over $ 1 million.
For comparison: in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, the luxury properties are about 10% of the market. This 10% include properties worth over 700 000Euros. Real estates that cost over 1 million Euros take only 0,5% from the residential properties in Sofia or about 3 000 apartments, houses, etc. The most expensive properties whose value is comparable to that of the world’s top destinations are less than ten and their prices rarely exceed $ 10 million.
“The Bulgarian market for luxury homes is dependent on the overall economic picture and even thrive in local conditions, it is still far from the size of the world’s great cities.
If in Sofia the most expensive available property of the real estate market in Bulgaria costs $ 10 000 million then in New York last year was a property deal for $ 88 million. The average period for sale luxury property on the Bulgarian property market is about one year. At the same time in Miami, for example, a residential property will stay on the market about 6months before to be sold. Longest period of sale luxury property is in Cote d’Azur- 9 months. Quickly dealt can see in Toronto- about a month and half after they come live on the property market.
All this data shows that property buyer of luxury properties in Bulgaria is more careful when is going to make a deal. According to some data the typical luxury real estate for $ 5Million in Toronto has 465sq.m living area with 4-5 bedrooms, and in Paris for these money you can buy 4 bedroom property in nice residential quarter.
In Sofia the residential homes between 5-10 million are few and exclusive. For this price the buyer can become a owner of extremely luxurious house in the “Doctor’s garden”, although this type of property rarely go online on the property market for sale. Usually the highest price that you can meet on the property market in Bulgaria is about $ 1 million as against this amount the client can become a owner of property where he wants.
In Sofia, for example in Boyana for the price of 700 000Euros you can become a owner of property with living area 600sq.m and garden 1500-2000sq.m. Apartment in the quarter of “ Doctor’s Garden) for the price of 450 000 Euros can buy a real estate with area 200sq.m , 3 bedrooms.
To anyone thinking about buying a property in Bulgaria I hope that I can help with my very bad experience (with other agency)that cost me several thousand euro's with a property I hoped would be my dream home and after paying my deposit and appointed the company to sort out the notary deeds I thought great I have my home in Bulgaria, after waiting for a month with no communication with the company I contacted the company and was told not to worry should all be sorted in about a week to cut a story short this went on for almost four months and not once did they communicate with me it was always me contacting them by now I was starting to worry that all the stress that I was suffering was not worth it shortening my life (I am75) so I told them to cancel the contract I didn't want the house anymore because I was getting very bad feelings over everything and back came the reply (yes you guessed it) should all be sorted in a week I replied yes but there's 52 week's in a year and I can't wait to find out which one so I gave up on my dreams of living in Bulgaria but then after a couple of weeks I decided I would try just once more and decided to try Bulgarian House and I can't tell you the difference between the first company of similar name to Bulgarian House was chalk and cheese. I was of course still very sceptical about dealing with them but after my first email to them and and the reply I received I felt like this is so different then over a short period of time searching through all the properties that fitted with my criteria I received so much help and additional property details I replied back that I have a short list of just over a hundred to which came back a reply "Are You Trying To Kill Me" but okay we can sort it all out and then I replied I was joking I only have about twenty I would like to see and after several emails and some professional banter I was so at ease with the company and made my travel arrangements to visit and view Kiki then recommended a hotel for me and after agreeing Kiki then made all the reservations for me. When I arrived at the hotel it was late and ready for a good night's sleep and then true to her word she called and asked me if all was okay and that she had arranged for me to visit all the properties I had requested over a three or four day period some of them in the Elhovo area and was showed them by one of her colleges Elvera once again a great lady that was only pleased to help and showed me other properties I might like but over the time viewing all the properties I was showed around the different area's to help me make my decision more easy and after three fairly busy but extremely enjoyable days I had a day to myself for recapping all I had seen as Kiki had an appointment with another client but even then she found time to call me and asked if I had any questions to which I replied no you did a fantastic job explaining everything as we viewed but I had one property I wanted to view again, Kiki called me back within the hour and had arranged with the owner to view the next morning, I viewed the house and had a little haggle with the owner and agreed a sale then Kiki spent the rest of the day taking me to all the major shops etc that would be of interest then went for a coffee and she arranged for me to visit the bank the next day and open a bank account then a visit to the solicitors to grant her power of attorney to act on my behalf all done, that evening Kiki and her son David (great little five year old man) showed me around Kazanlak and as it was December we went to watch a fantastic musical extravaganza in the square, what a great way to end the day and my time in Bulgaria. The whole process from agreement of sale including payment and transfer of the notary deeds all done in under two weeks that the other company could not do in over three months, so please please listen to a man who has had bad and good experience in buying a Bulgarian property Don't waste time and money looking around go straight to the best and forget the rest. As we all know that the virus is stopping us traveling and you might not be able to view as I can't go back to my house and start working on it but I can put my hand on my heart and say Kiki and Elvera can both be trusted to give you a 100% true assessment for the property of your choice and can proceed with conference. I can't wait to get back to Bulgaria and have a big BBQ for all the people I have made lifetime friends with and without Kiki it would not have been possible. John and Xiaohui
— John Johnson, UK