Real estate in Bulgaria's larger cities was increasingly popular among UK buyers,...

...Paul Collins, an expert with the BuyAssociation web site, said on October 5, as quoted in an interview for investor.bg.

While until recently, Brits were prone to buying property at Bulgaria’s Black Sea resorts, now they were more and more turning their attention to residential and vacation property, offered at the winter ski resorts and the big cities, Collins said.

The real estate market for mountain resorts had better sustained development potential, he said.

Holiday homes’ supply in the ski resorts increased by more than 50 per cent in the first half of 2007, according to Colliers International’s latest holiday homes report. Some 10 000 new housing units were offered on the market during the same period. The total supply of vacation property in the mountain resorts was more than 28 000 units, Colliers says.

According to the report, Bansko was the resort with the most significant growth, as it accounted for 78 per cent of all newly supplied apartments and houses. The rest of the offered newly constructed vacation housing was divided mainly between the other two large ski resorts – Borovets and Pamporovo.

Despite certain signs of over-construction in Bansko and other resorts, the real estate in the mountains was a preferred option for individual investors. Owning property there looked an easier way of making money through buy-to-let, Collins said.