Over the summer, two of the leading commercial property consultancies published their figures for Sofia's industrial and logistics market in the first half of 2026. The numbers differ because the two are measuring different things — but they point the same way: the capital has effectively run out of warehouse space.
This is our second report on Sofia's commercial property market, following the office market in the first half of the year. The figures below were verified in September 2026 and are indicative — they move with every quarter.
Colliers counts speculative Class A and B space — buildings put up in order to be leased. By mid-2026 that stock stood at 1,448,500 sq m, some 39,900 sq m more than at the end of 2025. Vacancy within it is 1.3% — a record low, and lower than a year earlier. At the end of the first quarter it was 1.4%.
Cushman & Wakefield Forton counts the capital's entire industrial stock, including owner-occupied buildings. Against that wider base, vacant space amounts to roughly 15,000 sq m, or 0.62%.
| Measure | Colliers | Cushman & Wakefield Forton |
|---|---|---|
| What is counted | speculative Class A and B space | Sofia's entire industrial stock |
| Stock | 1,448,500 sq m | not published |
| Vacancy | 1.3% | 0.62% (≈ 15,000 sq m) |
| Under construction | 112,200 sq m | 183,000 sq m due by end-2026 |
The gap between 1.3% and 0.62% is not a contradiction — it is a question of denominator. If 15,000 sq m equals 0.62%, the total stock Forton is measuring is in the order of 2.4 million sq m (our own arithmetic on the published figures, not official statistics). Either way the conclusion holds: whichever base you use, available space is below 1.5%.
For scale, Sofia's office market is running at around 11.6% vacancy. That is the difference between a market where the tenant picks between buildings and one where the tenant waits for somebody to build.
Colliers puts average asking levels at mid-2026 at:
Forton records a modest increase for prime Class A logistics space, now at €5.80–6.30 per sq m a month.
The two ranges overlap and describe a stable market without sharp moves. What is happening underneath that stability is more interesting: higher rents on new buildings are pushing some tenants down into Class B and C warehouses, which is precisely why those keep high occupancy. At the same time, some of those older assets in Sofia's inner districts are drawing interest not as warehouses at all, but as development land.
Take-up to mid-2026 reached 78,900 sq m, according to Colliers. In the same period of 2025 it was 8,600 sq m. That is a ninefold difference — and it does not come from renegotiations: 92% of the volume was new demand, with only 8% representing expansions or renewals of existing space.
Forton reports that the second quarter alone delivered 66,000 sq m of market activity — the highest level since the end of 2024, and the second-strongest half-year in six years.
Which sectors are taking the space, on Forton's figures:
| Sector | Share |
|---|---|
| Retail | 30% |
| Wholesale | 27% |
| Manufacturing | 23% |
| Transport and storage | 17% |
Colliers frames the same picture differently: fast-moving consumer goods account for 50% of space absorbed and distribution companies for 30%, while logistics operators and 3PL providers — traditionally the demand drivers — remained relatively quiet.
In plain terms: the space is being taken by businesses moving their own goods towards the shelf and the customer, not by firms that store other people's goods for a living.
This is the figure that captures the market best. On Forton's analysis, the structure of deals signed in the first half looks like this:
When only eight per cent of transactions amount to "I found a finished warehouse and leased it", the market is not tight — it is exhausted. Companies that want space in Sofia no longer get to choose between buildings. They either sign for something that will be ready in eighteen months, or they build it themselves.
A total of 236,000 sq m of new space is expected to reach the market by the end of 2026. Of that, 53,000 sq m was completed in the first half, with the remaining 183,000 sq m due in the second. Only 37.4% is being built speculatively — that is, without a tenant already secured. The rest is already committed.
Colliers counts 112,200 sq m under active construction, of which 62% is concentrated in a handful of buildings belonging to a single large project. That matters: supply is not spread across the city but depends on one developer and one schedule.
The reason more is not being built is financial rather than regulatory. Daniela Boycheva of Cushman & Wakefield Forton points out that a logistics project takes around ten years to pay back, against roughly five for a retail park. All else being equal, capital goes where it returns faster.
Added to that is the limited availability of suitable land in Sofia, which Colliers says is steering investor interest towards secondary markets with good transport links. Competition for the few remaining developable plots continues to push industrial land prices up — the same mechanism we described in our report on construction costs.
1. If you are looking for a warehouse in Sofia, timing matters more than price. At 0.62–1.3% vacancy, a search for "something for next month" has almost no chance. The realistic route is a pre-lease in a building under construction, which means starting negotiations 12 to 18 months before you need the space.
2. If you own an older production or storage property in Sofia, it is worth more than you probably assume — and likely for two separate reasons. As Class B or C warehouse space it will let quickly, because rents on new buildings are pushing tenants down the classes. As land, though, it may be worth more than the building standing on it, if it sits in an inner district. The two valuations are calculated differently and rarely coincide.
3. The industrial market is behaving in the opposite direction to the residential one. While housing transactions fall and sellers return to discounts, warehouse demand is nine times higher than last year against almost no supply. The two markets are in different phases and should not be read through the same expectations.
Leasing and selling industrial and commercial premises is part of our day-to-day work, not a separate service. For a tenant that means starting from the real timeline — when you actually need the space, what loading access and clear height your operation requires, and whether waiting for an existing building makes any sense at all or the conversation should be with a developer instead. For an owner we run both calculations: what the property earns as a warehouse today, and what it is worth as land if the district has moved in another direction.
If you are looking for warehouse or production space in Sofia, or you own some and want to know what it is genuinely worth today, call us or come by the office. We will look at the specific property and the specific district rather than at averages.
Colliers and Cushman & Wakefield Forton data for the first half of 2026, verified as of September 2026. Rents are asking levels and indicative; agreed terms depend on the size, lease length and condition of the specific space.
