On 7 August the National Statistical Institute released preliminary figures for dwellings completed and put into use during the second quarter of 2026. This is the opposite end of the construction cycle from the building permits for the same quarter, which we covered earlier this month.
Permits tell you what will reach the market in two to three years. Completions tell you what is on the market today — homes with an Act 16, which can be lived in, mortgaged and sold without conditions attached. For a buyer, that is the more useful of the two tables.
This report updates the new-construction section of our H1 2026 housing market report, which worked from the Q1 figures. All data is from the NSI and verified as at August 2026.
In Q2 2026, 1,269 residential buildings containing 5,932 newly built dwellings were put into use.
| Indicator | Q2 2025 | Q1 2026 | Q2 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential buildings | 1,256 | 1,241 | 1,269 |
| New dwellings | 6,001 | 4,151 | 5,932 |
| Dwellings per building (our calculation) | ≈ 4.8 | ≈ 3.3 | ≈ 4.7 |
The two comparisons say different things, and both are true.
Against Q1 2026, the number of dwellings jumps 42.9%. But Q1 was unusually weak — completions then were roughly half the level of a year earlier. Q2 simply restores the normal rhythm.
Against Q2 2025, the picture is flat: buildings are up 1.0%, dwellings in them down 1.1%. Delivered supply is not growing. It is holding.
That matters, because the permit data already shows new design work contracting. The buildings completed today were permitted in 2023–2024. The contraction now visible in permits will only show up in this table around 2028.
Total useful floor area of the quarter's new dwellings was 545,400 sq m, and living area 380,600 sq m. The average living area per new dwelling is 64.2 sq m.
A clarification worth making, because this trips people up. Living area is the sum of the rooms. Useful area adds the kitchen, bathroom, corridors and built-in storage. Dividing total useful area by the number of dwellings (our calculation on NSI data) gives roughly 91.9 sq m of useful area per home. The figure on the title deed is a third measure again — it also includes a share of the building's common parts, and is usually larger still.
So a "90 sq m apartment" in a listing and a "64 sq m living area" dwelling in the statistics can easily be the same property.
A year ago the average living area was 63.3 sq m. In other words the new home has barely changed in size over twelve months — even though permits for the same quarter show projects shrinking noticeably. Further confirmation that the two datasets describe different design years.
By number of rooms:
Three-room homes are gaining: a year ago they were 30.8%. Two-room homes hold exactly the same share, 42.8%. Completed new-build remains a two- and three-room market.
| Region | Buildings | Dwellings | Dwellings per building (our calculation) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sofia (capital) | 176 | 2,046 | ≈ 11.6 |
| Burgas | 145 | 1,369 | ≈ 9.4 |
| Varna | — | 441 | — |
| Plovdiv | 150 | 375 | ≈ 2.5 |
| Blagoevgrad | — | 258 | — |
Sofia and Burgas alone account for 57.6% of all new dwellings nationally this quarter (our calculation). Add Varna and the three reach 65.0%.
The year-on-year regional comparison is more revealing than the national one:
Plovdiv builds wide and low — mostly houses and small buildings. Sofia and Burgas build up. That is a durable difference in the character of these markets, not a quarterly fluctuation.
The average living area of a new dwelling varies by a factor of nearly three between regions:
| Region | Average living area |
|---|---|
| Smolyan | 128.4 sq m |
| Montana | 111.3 sq m |
| Targovishte | 45.6 sq m |
| Burgas | 52.4 sq m |
These numbers measure building type, not quality. Smolyan and Montana build almost exclusively single-family houses — hence a large average across a small total. Burgas has a low average despite 1,369 new dwellings, because a large share are compact apartments in big complexes. Targovishte sits at the other extreme: a small market with small homes.
The takeaway for an investor: a national average for "a new home in Bulgaria" has no practical value. You work by region, and often by neighbourhood.
By building type:
In Q1, houses were 81.6% and apartment blocks 11.5%. The condominium share is rising, which makes sense: Q2 is the season when large projects complete.
By structure: reinforced concrete — 77.8%, brick — 19.6%, other — 2.0%, prefabricated panel — 0.6%. Panel construction has effectively ended as a category; the residual 0.6% are isolated cases.
Three conclusions we think the data supports:
1. The supply of completed new-build is not growing. Year on year, delivered dwellings are down 1.1%. Buyers waiting for a "wave of new construction" to bring prices down are waiting for something this data does not show.
2. Sofia is delivering less; Burgas far more. If you are looking for new-build in the capital, competition for a finished property is sharper this year than last. On the coast the reverse applies — more choice, and where there is more choice there is more room to negotiate.
3. The two-room/three-room balance is shifting slightly toward three-room homes. Good news for families, but the effect is modest — three percentage points in a year.
The statistics tell you how many homes were completed. They do not tell you whether a particular building was completed properly. On new-build purchases we verify the stage the property has actually reached from the documents, not from the listing description — including whether the occupancy certificate has been issued, when the warranty periods started running, and whether there are charges over the land plot that must be released before the notary. Which document matters at which stage is set out in our guide to Act 14, Act 15 and Act 16.
For sellers on the resale market, the figures are an argument: delivered new supply is flat, and the average new home has around 64 sq m of living space. A large, well-maintained apartment in an established neighbourhood does not compete with that product — it competes only with itself.
If you are considering a new-build purchase, or selling a property and want to know what has actually been completed nearby, call us or come by the office. We will look at the specific location and tell you what the data says about it.
Preliminary NSI data for Q2 2026, published on 7 August 2026 and verified as at August 2026. Ratios and percentage changes marked "our calculation" are derived by us from the published figures. Market indicators are indicative and change with every new quarter.
