Developers are abandoning Bulgaria's resorts, reports the country's Property Index magazine.

The national statistics office has registered record-breaking falls in developer activity compared to a peak in 2007. Q3 of last year saw the third quarter in a row of falls in the launch of new residential projects in Burgas and the fifth consecutive quarter of falls in Blagoevgrad.

The northern Black Sea coast has also set some records, especially in the area of
In Dobrich (Kavarna and Balchik), approved projects were down almost 60% in a clear sign that the holiday property market has gone from peak to trough in just four years.

"Even always upbeat real estate agents, who managed to find new markets for Bulgarian second homes in Northern and Eastern Europe, are now as pessimistic as everyone else," says Property Index.

"Those (developers) who have yet to build as they have sold off-plan, are asking €500-€600 psm where they used to ask €800- €1,000."

Robin Bowman