Owning a home in the capital or a large city is an excellent investment. There are three groups of buyers of properties in these cities. The first are those who need to live in them. The second acquire them for investment purposes and rental. The third buy with the intention of selling after a certain period of time.
The strengthening of the second and third groups of buyers leads to a kind of “displacement“ of the first and the emergence of a huge problem with finding a place to live. It is for this reason that some cities, mainly famous tourist destinations, are beginning to consider the option of introducing restrictions and a ban on the purchase of residential properties for speculative purposes.
The most recent example in this direction is Catalonia. Prime Minister Salvador Illa has commissioned a study of the legal possibilities for such a step. A study shows that such a ban could be introduced temporarily for specific areas. Most often, these would be famous holiday destinations where tourists, captivated by the sea, want to buy a holiday apartment, which they can rent out for most of the year.
Similar measures have already been taken in some regions of Denmark, Finland, Croatia, as well as Malta. Amsterdam has introduced a ban on renting out a home for up to 4 years after its purchase and if its value is over 623,000 EUR.
Of course, there are opponents of the introduction of such a measure. Some of them believe that the real problem lies in the shortage of land for development, the presence of administrative obstacles and slow urban planning processes.
Detailed statistics on average property prices in Bulgaria by city and neighborhood can be found at imot.bg