Sofia, November 3 (BTA) - The house price index in Bulgaria in the second quarter of 2021 increased by 9.1 per cent from a year earlier, Dobromir Ganev, President of the Board of the National Real Estate Association, told the third edition of Forum Real, the two-day conference on construction, innovation, real estate and investments. The volume of transactions in the first half of the year hit a 13-year high, the average increase being 39 per cent (41 per cent in Sofia). Housing under construction grew by 25 per cent (51 per cent in Sofia).

Housing in Europe saw record-setting price increases. Housing prices in Berlin soared by 148 per cent in in ten years. In the first quarter of 2021, prices rose by 17 per cent in Luxembourg, 15 per cent in Denmark, 11 per cent in Czechia and the Netherlands each, 10 per cent in Germany, 6 per cent in Belgium and 5 per cent in France. Sofia is not among the top 60 cities in Europe with the highest housing prices, said Ganev. The Bulgarian capital ranks seventh in downtown housing prices among 12 capitals in Eastern Europe. DT/DD