Foreign investment
14 August 2026 · 10 min read
Raffy Nikoghosyan
Agent, BulGhar Homes
Bulgaria after the euro
Russians stop selling. Who is buying instead?
The Russian outflow from property in Bulgaria is slowing sharply, and foreign investment in Bulgaria has jumped more than 4 times since the euro. There is no official register showing who buys what, so we gathered the available data in one place, without insinuations of an “invasion”.
BulGhar Homes
Trusted Homes · Trusted Future
Russian sellers
Russians stop selling.
Outflow · January–April 2025
−€0 million
−96%
Same period · 2026
−€0 million
By the end of May 2026 the cumulative outflow rose slightly, to €2.4 million, but it remains far below the pace of the previous year. According to data from the Bulgarian National Bank (БНБ), balance of payments.
0
properties are still owned by Russian citizens in Bulgaria
0
of them, close to half, are in Nesebar Municipality
0
of the property records were opened after 24 February 2022, the start of the war
Most Russian-owned property in Bulgaria is not old. It dates from after the start of the war. The data come from a Registry Agency (Агенция по вписванията) report published by the newspaper Sega.
§
In fairness: total foreign investment in Bulgaria has jumped more than 4 times compared with 2025, to about €2.3 billion, and according to another source, up to 7 times more foreign investment by April 2026. The euro is cited as the catalyst. But the net flow of foreign investment specifically into property in 2025 was negative, −€19.7 million. For now the boom is in overall foreign investment in Bulgaria, not specifically in the housing sector.
The new buyers
Who is buying instead.
The media call certain nationalities an “invasion” in particular neighbourhoods. The data are more modest: different profiles, with different budgets and motives, and for some of them there is still more expectation than hard evidence.
Romanians
Mass market by the sea, active, frequent deals.
Ukrainians
Luxury segment, mostly as close to the sea as possible, most often in Varna.
Germans and Israelis
Mainly an investment goal, buying to let.
Polish and Czech buyers
Activity is expected, but so far it is more anecdotal than documented with hard data.
0%
of foreign buyers of seaside holiday apartments are pensioners from Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands. The data are from Capital.bg, based on 30,000 real searches.
What foreign buyers pay
Budgets and prices.
Detached house, Black Sea coast€80,000–150,000
Luxury apartmentfrom €100,000
Luxury villa€300,000–500,000
€1,200–2,000
per sq m, quality apartments in Sunny Beach, Nesebar and Sveti Vlas
There is no single public register breaking down prices by buyer nationality. The ranges above come from active listings and our experience with clients on the ground.
Since 1 January 2026
What the euro changed.
01
The lev/euro currency risk is gone. The market is easier to understand and more predictable for a foreigner who counts in euros.
02
Easier and faster transfers of funds between the eurozone and Bulgaria.
03
The tax context is unchanged but competitive: a flat 10% income tax rate, below the eurozone average. A new threshold for mandatory VAT registration: €51,130 a year.
For context in the other direction, mortgage interest rates in Bulgaria did not go up after the euro; quite the opposite. See Frankfurt raised rates, and the Bulgarian mortgage got cheaper..
Croatia, in the eurozone since 2023
Not whether, but when.
0%
of property deals in Croatia
involve foreign buyers, led by four nationalities:
Germans
Austrians
Slovenians
Italians
§
EU citizens buy in Croatia on an equal footing with locals, without restrictions. The euro removes currency risk for investors from the eurozone and accelerates price growth in premium locations. According to data from Property Forum.
◆
For Bulgaria a comparable pattern is likely, but the market is still at an early stage.
The tone in the media
Coverage varies widely, from a positive narrative of growing investment to sharper headlines about particular national groups in the property sector. The data above show a mix of Bulgarians and foreigners, not a one-way trend, and that is exactly why they deserve a calmer look than the alarmist headlines.
Selling a property? The buyers are no longer only Bulgarians.
We will show you the real range of potential buyers for your property. Come in for a consultation or ask for a free valuation.
Comments
No comments yet, be the first.
