By Anna Grybel, Property Secrets

For many years Sofia has somewhat lagged other CEE capital cities in terms of the level of price increases and the number of new residential developments taking place.

The situation changed however after Bulgaria joined the EU and investor confidence in the country has grown markedly.

However, Sofia has frequently lost the competition with Bucharest and the Black Sea coastal areas in terms of attracting major real estate developers. Currently, though, we can see those markets are either slowing down (Bucharest) or are unattractive and risky (Bulgarian resorts). Perhaps as a result, Sofia has emerged from the shadows and is perceived as great investment opportunity, a truly emerging market set to grow fast.

So why did Sofia lag behind?