Newer younger buyers between the ages of 26 and 35 entered the home market

Newer younger buyers between the ages of 26 and 35 entered the home market last year.

This age group made up 39% of all clients, and it is typical for them to move more slowly, conduct more inspections and often look for finished and furnished homes that I can move into immediately. Young home buyers want them to be modern and technologically advanced, but at the same time remind them of the comfort of the home they grew up in. More and more of them do not rely on help from their parents during the purchase, which further complicates their decision.

Buyers tend to pay a higher price for a property in a newly built building if it is fully responsible for their sense of quality living environment. The difference in price between an unfurnished home and a ready-to-move home can be as high as 25%.

This approach is often preferred by people who use credit for their purchase and the budget they have set does not include extra property costs.

Stable levels of credit transactions

Despite expectations of a contraction in mortgage lending and an increase in interest rates, as well as higher requirements for applicants, loan transactions in Sofia have remained stable at last year's levels. Although we began in 2019 with the first decline in mortgage purchases registered in the last five years, interest in bank financing for real estate transactions has been steady. In the last quarter of the year, we are even reporting growth over the same period in 2018 and it is estimated that it will continue throughout the year.

Lending will continue to drive the market thanks to low-interest rates of around 3%. However, banks are already refusing to finance transactions 100%, and some of them are limiting their customers to take a mortgage and consumer loan for the same thing, and this will calm and normalize the market.