Bulgaria is currently leading the way in low cost property opportunities, certainly in the Central European region. Although it is currently possible to pick up a studio apartment in popular areas of Bulgaria such as the countries capital Sofia or in the mountainous ski resort towns of Bansko or Pamporovo for as little as €40,000 this is surely set to change.

The Bulgarian property market is widely heralded as a rewarding investment and as a consequence this has not gone unnoticed amongst the more savvy international property investor. This has led to reports of property prices rising by as much as 30% PER MONTH!

But why Bulgaria? What are the factors contributing to the boom in the Bulgarian property market?

There are a number of factors, the main being that Bulgaria has been admitted into the EU (in January 2007). Experience has shown that in the years preceding a country entering the EU, the local property market in that country has risen inexorably due to shrewd property investors attempting to get on the property ladder at the bottom. Once a country is in the EU, property prices invariably start to increase in part due to the stability that accession in to the EU provides to the country both economically and politically and on a macro level, laws governing the ownership of property by foreign nationals are often relaxed.

Bulgaria is also a unique country in that it has a very wide ranging appeal to tourists. The country has a number of popular ski resorts in the Rodopi mountain range and the Black Sea coast offers wonderful beaches and pleasant sunshine. Tourism now plays a large part in the economic growth of Bulgaria with reports suggesting that tourism accounts for 16% of overall GDP. Once the country is admitted into the EU, tourist figures will likely increase which will certainly help property investors that seek to purchase property with a view to letting to holidaymakers.

In addition, air carriers are beginning to add routes from major European cities to Bulgaria often on a low cost basis. Such airlines that will fly to Bulgaria include, Bulgarian Air, Austrian Airlines and British Airways.