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Is Bulgaria really still 'booming marvelous'?

Bulgaria’s turnaround from communist backwater to holiday and property hotspot has been sensational and a visit to the country will explain why – remember a trip is a must if you’re planning buy property there.

Its Black Sea coast, mountains and much of its rural interior are all stunningly beautiful, and overall Bulgaria is not the concreted-covered industrial landscape you might expect following more than half a century of communist rule.

It is also empty. Bulgaria is as large as England but with a population only a fifth the size. Therefore the wide-open spaces are tempting to many Brits seeking an escape from the UK’s suburban lifestyle, albeit with some drawbacks. Bears run free in its mountain forests and wolves are still occasionally seen, an extraordinary fact considering this is Europe in the 21st century.

Beaches along the 350 kilometres of Bulgaria’s Black Sea coastline can on occasion rival the Spanish costas but it will be some time before they can be said to be the same. Utility services, restaurants, shops and roads are all still relatively undeveloped or simply scarce by comparison.

The main resorts are Sunny Beach, Bourgas and Varna, which offer direct flights to the UK in summer. Seaside apartments can be found for £40,000, though oversupply may not make them the world’s best investment at the moment – although it depends where you buy.

Space to play

Bulgaria’s ski resorts – Bansko, Borovets, Plovdiv and Pamporovo – will never compete with the French Alps or Aspen in Colorado but they offer decent properties and reasonable skiing for the price. British demand for moderately-priced chalets have turned Bansko into a building site in recent times, but the town is now ready to take its place as a modern, well-maintained and fun-loving resort.

On the other hand, Bulgaria's much-trumpeted golf resorts and courses are still under development. To be found either near the ski resorts or back from the Black Sea coast, most are either under construction or nearing completion but few if any are ready to offers rounds of golf. But talk to most agents and they say that Bulgaria should be a major golf destination by 2010. But until there are at least half a dozen courses to play on, it’s difficult to say if this is – or will be – true.

But wherever you consider in Bulgaria, it will be evident that it is no longer the Brit favourite it used to be. Whereas busloads of inspection trippers being shown newbuilds or plots of land used to be seen on an almost hourly basis in some of the resorts, these days the buying fever has abated somewhat - partially because other, more affordable and 'hotter' property markets (such as Morocco and Egypt) now rival Bulgaria, but also because prices have risen and, particularly on its more popular coasts and ski resorts, it's no longer a property givewaway – compared to two or three years ago.

One hotspot still attracting investors, though, is Bulgaria's capital Sofia, which is enjoying huge investment as a consequence of EU membership. Once described as  a ‘shabby Vienna’, it is becoming brighter and more fashionable by the day. It is still a vital trading post between east and west and with an increasingly vocal middle class (plus a growing pack of foreigners working for multinational companies) many people  see property here as a reliable buy-to-let option. One untold story about Sofia is that it teems with knock-off goods. Whether it's Microsoft software or ski-boots, cut-price 'grey' or counterfeit goods are available openly from the city's street vendors in the central districts.

Map of Bulgaria