The question we hear most often in the office is not "how much" and it is not "which neighbourhood". It is: new build, or something ready on the resale market.
Most people expect the answer to favour new construction. The logic is obvious — newer building, better insulation, lift, parking space, warranty. Yet the National Statistical Institute's figures from recent years tell a different story about the pace of appreciation.
This piece does not try to declare a winner. It tries to line up the two calculations so that they are actually comparable — because most comparisons made during a purchase compare different things.
The data below is from the NSI and was verified in September 2026.
In the first quarter of 2026, the overall house price index rose 14.8% year on year and 6.2% against the previous quarter.
The breakdown by dwelling type is the more interesting part:
| Measure | Existing dwellings | New dwellings |
|---|---|---|
| Against the same quarter of 2025 | +16.3% | +12.5% |
| Against the previous quarter | +7.3% | +4.6% |
That is a gap of roughly 4 percentage points year on year — and it is not a one-quarter accident. The tendency for existing homes to outpace new construction has been visible in NSI data for years.
Regionally, on a quarterly basis, Burgas (+5.9%) and Sofia (+5.8%) lead, followed by Varna (+4.0%) and Plovdiv (+3.9%). Varna is also the one exception to the general picture: there, over the quarter, new dwellings rose faster than existing ones — 6.1% against 2.9%.
Why? Three reasons we see in practice:
What already exists occupies the good locations. Established neighbourhoods are built up. New construction largely happens where land is available, which is rarely the centre.
The index compares like with like over time. A new build enters the statistics at its first sale; the same flat enters the existing-dwellings series at the next one. So the new-build index primarily reflects developers' pricing policy, while the existing-dwellings index reflects actual market demand.
New construction has a floor under it. Construction costs are rising 9.6% year on year — a developer cannot sell below cost, but nor can they raise prices indefinitely if the buyer's bank will not approve the valuation. The resale market has no such constraint: there, the price is whatever two people agree on.
The conclusion for a buyer is not "buy old". It is that new construction is not automatically the better investment — and that is precisely the assumption many people carry into the transaction.
This is where most of the confusion in comparing offers arises.
VAT. A developer's sale of a new building is a taxable supply carrying 20% VAT. Under §1, item 5 of the Supplementary Provisions of the VAT Act, a building is "new" if, at the date of the taxable event, it is at the rough-construction stage, or if fewer than 60 months have passed since the permit for use was issued. After that period the supply is exempt under Art. 45(3) of the VAT Act. A sale by a private individual on the resale market is not a taxable supply at all — VAT never enters the picture.
In practice, a developer's price is almost always quoted VAT-inclusive, but it is worth confirming this in writing before building any calculation on it.
Floor area. Developers quote a price per square metre of gross built area — the usable area plus an ideal share of the common parts. Resale listings often use the area stated in the title deed. These are not the same thing, and the common-parts coefficient varies between buildings. If you are comparing two offers on price per square metre, first check whether they are talking about the same area.
Finishing. Most new construction is sold at the plaster-and-screed stage. The cost of getting to a habitable state is a second budget, not a detail — we have set it out with figures in Buying a shell apartment: what the second budget costs.
Transaction costs are identical. The local acquisition tax is 0.1%–3% depending on the municipality's ordinance (Art. 47 of the Local Taxes and Fees Act), the registration fee is 0.1%, and the notary fee follows the tariff. All are due on new and old alike, calculated on the higher of the price and the tax valuation. The specific figure can be worked out with the notary calculator.
An honest comparison reads: developer price including VAT, plus finishing, plus furnishing, per square metre of usable area — against resale price, plus renovation, per square metre of usable area. Until then, you are comparing different things.
This is the difference most often underestimated.
A resale property is handed over at the transaction. A property under construction is handed over at a stage described in the preliminary contract — and that stage also determines when the bank transfers funds.
What the construction certificates mean and what happens at each stage is covered in detail in Buying new-build property: what Act 14, Article 181, Act 15 and Act 16 actually mean.
On financing, the following holds as market practice rather than as a rule of law: a bank will accept a property under construction as collateral no earlier than Act 14 stage, and more commonly requires Act 15 before releasing the bulk of the sum. The reason is simple — to create a mortgage there must be something to mortgage, and title must be transferable at that stage. If you are relying on credit before Act 16, the transfer of ownership at the relevant stage must be expressly set out in the preliminary contract.
The practical consequence: an off-plan purchase usually means paying from your own funds early and with credit later. If your down payment is exactly 15% because you are counting on the maximum loan, an early-stage purchase may simply not work — not because you will be refused, but because the payment schedule to the developer runs ahead of the drawdown schedule on the loan.
The Bulgarian National Bank's credit standards, in force since 1 October 2024, apply in both cases:
Rates remain low: according to BNB data for July 2026, the average interest rate on new housing loans is 2.43%, with an APR of 2.77%. An indicative instalment for various amounts and terms can be calculated with the mortgage calculator, and the whole application process is described in Mortgage loans in Bulgaria.
The purchase price is paid once. Everything else is paid monthly and annually — and this is where the two options diverge most noticeably.
Heating and electricity. This is the strongest argument for new construction, and it is a real one. The difference between a building with proper facade insulation and an unrenovated panel block shows up in every winter bill. Energy class is ceasing to be a technical detail and becoming a component of price — draft amendments to the Energy Efficiency Act would require the class to be stated in the listing itself. What exactly is proposed is covered in Energy class is coming to property listings.
Maintenance charge. In gated complexes this is a monthly cost that simply does not exist in an older building without a lift, concierge and landscaping. The amount varies far too much to quote an average — but it is asked about in advance and entered into the calculation, not discovered after moving in.
Property tax and waste fee. Both are due either way, but new construction carries a higher tax valuation — it is calculated under Annex 2 to the Local Taxes and Fees Act, and the year of construction is one of the coefficients. So the newer property carries a higher annual tax, all else being equal. And that cost is set to rise: tax valuations are being updated in three steps through to 2029. What is owed, who pays it and why 31 October matters is in Property tax and the waste fee.
Renovation. On the resale market this is predictable and visible at the viewing. With new construction it is absent at the start — but after 10 to 15 years a complex's common parts also need money, and the repair fund under the Condominium Management Act is collected from the same owners.
With new construction the risk relates to delivery: construction delays, discrepancies between the design and what is built, the quality of finishing works, the developer's financial position. So the checks are directed at the developer — the building permit, the projects they have completed, the preliminary contract's clauses on deadlines and penalties, and whether payments are tied to the actual stage of construction.
On the resale market the risk is legal and technical: unregistered alterations, discrepancies between the title deed and the cadastre, encumbrances, co-ownership, heirs, the condition of the installations. Here the checks are directed at the property's history. The full list is in Legal checks before buying a property.
What the two have in common: risk is bought off with checks made before signing, not with optimism.
With no claim to universality — this is how it looks in our practice:
| If… | More often suits |
|---|---|
| You need to move in within a few months | Resale |
| You have your own funds and are not in a hurry | New build, at an early stage |
| Location matters more than the state of the flat | Resale |
| Monthly heating costs are a leading criterion | New build |
| You are buying with the maximum possible loan | Resale, or new build after Act 15 |
| You are buying to let | Depends on the neighbourhood — the calculation is done for the specific address |
| You want large floor area in an established district | Resale — new construction is shrinking |
| It is a first home and the budget is tight | Resale, but with an honest renovation figure |
Note that no row says "because it is the better investment". Appreciation depends far more on the neighbourhood than on the year of construction.
When a client is torn between the two, we start with a table rather than a viewing: price per square metre of usable area, VAT, finishing, furnishing, transaction costs, monthly costs for the first three years. Almost always it turns out the two offers the client was comparing were not comparable — usually because one was quoted on gross built area and the other on the title deed, or because finishing was never in the figure.
The second thing we do is check the schedule. On a new build, we verify that payments to the developer line up with the stage at which the bank draws down. That is a conversation worth having before the reservation, not after it.
NSI data for the first quarter of 2026 shows existing homes appreciating faster than new construction — 16.3% against 12.5% year on year — and this is not a new phenomenon. New construction brings lower monthly costs, a warranty and a modern building, but also VAT, a second budget for finishing, a higher tax valuation, a maintenance charge and a wait. The resale market brings location, readiness to move in and a more predictable figure, but also legal checks, renovation and higher heating bills.
The choice is between two different profiles of cost and risk, not between a good and a bad decision. The right way to make it is with one shared table covering both options.
If you are facing this choice — call us or come by the office. We will run the numbers on your two specific offers and tell you which one actually comes out more expensive.
NSI data (House Price Indices, first quarter of 2026) and BNB data, verified in September 2026. Market indicators are indicative and change with each new quarter. This text is general information and does not replace legal, tax or financial advice on a specific case.
