Bulgaria ranks second in EU for house price growth

Bulgaria ranked among Europe’s fastest-growing housing markets in the first quarter, with sharp increases in both house prices and rents, BGNES reported, citing Eurostat data.

House prices rose 14.8% year on year, the second-highest increase in the EU after Portugal. Rents climbed 10.5%, placing Bulgaria second after Croatia. Both figures were well above the EU average.

Across the EU, house prices and rents continued to rise in early 2026. Households spent an average of 18.9% of their disposable income on housing in 2025, according to Eurostat data cited by Euronews. In some member states, that share exceeded 30%.

The data also showed that house prices in Bulgaria continued to outpace inflation, rising by about 10 percentage points more than the inflation rate.

Analysts attributed the continued increase to high construction costs, limited new housing supply and resilient demand, which continue to put pressure on house prices and rents across much of Europe.

Editor: Diana Tsankova