For another year, Russian citizens are actively selling their vacation homes in Bulgaria. In the first half of 2023, an outflow of Russian investments in real estate in the amount of 7.3 million euros was reported, according to BNB data. Last year, the amount was much larger – for the first half of the year, the withdrawal of capital in real estate by Russian citizens was reported in the amount of 14 million euros, and for the whole of 2022 – 19.4 million euros.
The trend of getting rid of the properties that Russians acquired in the big wave of 10-15 years ago began already in 2017-2018. Then the Russian ruble collapsed and it became unprofitable for Russian citizens to vacation in Bulgaria. At that time, the Russian banks raised the interest rates on the loans with which a large part of the homes on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast were bought, and many owners found it difficult to repay them.
The Covid pandemic, the outbreak of the war in Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions against Russia further strengthened the sales process.
Because of the sanctions, Russians with properties in our country have great difficulty visiting them. There are no direct flights to Bulgaria for the second year, so they arrive here mainly via Turkey, which doubles their transport costs. Separately, visas continue to be a barrier.
Since last year, a large number of Russian banks have been cut off from the SWIFT international payment system, and this creates major obstacles for property owners in Bulgaria. Payment of housing maintenance fees and local taxes is now becoming impossible via bank transfer. Russian pensioners who have permanently settled in our country cannot receive their pensions and practically have no income to stay in the country. High inflation and the rising cost of living in our country also make travel and vacations here unprofitable. All this makes Russians rush to get rid of their vacation homes.
Despite restrictions on bank transactions, sellers are getting deals done, real estate brokers say. Some banks still accept transfers from Europe to Russia, but for rather hefty commissions. Most often, sellers open accounts in Turkey, Kazakhstan or another country and receive the money from the sale of the property through them.
However, the active sale of holiday properties owned by Russians has not led to a reduction in their prices, brokers say. In just one year, the price increase of vacation homes on the Southern Black Sea coast is over 20%.
“In Sunny Beach, you can hardly find anything under 1,000 euros per square meter, and until two years ago the offers were 500 euros each,” say local brokers. About 800 euros is the square meter in Sveti Vlas, Nessebar, Pomorie, where the holiday properties of Russian citizens are concentrated.
The main buyers are the Bulgarians, who increased their interest in the so-called a second home during the covid pandemic. Inflation in the last three years has made people with spare money quick to invest it in real estate even more.
If you want to support independent and quality journalism in “Sega”,
you can donate via PayPal
2023-08-28 00:37:26
#Sanctions #stop #Russians #selling #properties #Bulgaria
