Bulgaria house prices rise 15.5% in Q2 as city trends diverge

Bulgaria’s housing market remained firmly in expansion in the second quarter of 2026. According to the National Statistical Institute, residential prices were 15.5% higher than a year earlier and 4.5% above the first quarter. The national figures indicate strong price momentum, but the city data show that the movement is no longer uniform across the largest urban markets.

Plovdiv recorded the strongest quarterly increase among the cities highlighted by the institute, at 5.8%. Stara Zagora rose by 2.9%, Varna by 2.8% and Sofia by 2.4%. Burgas moved in the opposite direction, with prices falling 1.5% from the previous quarter. A national average therefore hides a widening gap between local markets that are still accelerating and those experiencing a pause or correction.

For buyers, the distinction matters because national price growth does not describe the entry conditions in every city. Local supply, new construction, household demand and the mix of transactions can produce very different short-term price paths. The Q2 data do not establish that the Burgas decline will persist, nor that the strongest quarterly gains elsewhere will continue at the same pace. They do show that city selection has become more important as Bulgaria’s housing cycle matures.