The increase in housing prices in Bulgaria ranks as the second largest in the European Union, with prices rising by 15.1% in the first quarter of 2025. Since 2010, housing prices in Bulgaria have surged by 125%, according to Eurostat.

In the first quarter of 2025, housing prices rose by 5.4% in the euro area and by 5.7% in the EU compared to the same quarter of the previous year. The measurement is based on the House Price Index. During the fourth quarter of 2024, housing prices had increased by 4.1% in the euro area and by 4.9% in the EU.

Compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, housing prices in the first quarter of 2025 grew by 1.3% in the euro area and by 1.4% across the EU.

Among the member states with available data, only one recorded an annual decrease in housing prices in the first quarter of 2025, while twenty-five registered an annual increase. A decline was observed in Finland (-1.9%), whereas the most significant increases were noted in Portugal (+16.3%), Bulgaria (+15.1%), and Croatia (+13.1%).

Between 2010 and the first quarter of 2025, housing prices in the EU rose by 57.9%, while rents increased by 27.8%. Rents have followed a steady upward trend, whereas housing prices have shown a more variable pattern, with a striking rise between the first quarter of 2015 and the third quarter of 2022, followed by a slight decline and stabilization before resuming growth from 2024 onwards.

When comparing the first quarter of 2025 to 2010, housing prices have risen more than rents in 21 out of the 26 EU countries for which data is available. Over the same period, housing prices more than tripled in Hungary (+260%) and Estonia (+238%), and doubled or more in nine other EU countries: Lithuania (+194%), Latvia (+154%), Czechia (+147%), Portugal (+130%), Bulgaria (+125%), Austria (+113%), Luxembourg and Poland (both +102%), and Slovakia (+100%). Italy is the only country where housing prices have decreased (-4%).

During the same period, rents increased in 26 EU countries, with the largest rises recorded in Estonia (+220%), Lithuania (+184%), Hungary (+124%), and Ireland (+115%). Greece is the only country where rental prices have fallen (-11%). | BGNES