Sozopol: tradition and identity

Geography and more

Sozopol is an ancient seaside town in Bulgaria, located 35 km south of Burgas on the southern coast of the Black Sea. In terms of age and buildings, Old Sozopol is very similar to the tourist mecca of Bulgaria – Nessebar. But Sozopol is not protected by UNESCO, is not a place of pilgrimage for tourists, so it is more intimate and colorful. Today it is one of the largest seaside resorts in the country, also known for the Apollonia Festival of Arts and Cinema, which takes place here in early September.

Geographically, the city is located on a small peninsula, along the perimeter of which are scattered individual islands: St. Ivan (the largest island in Bulgaria), St. Kirik, St. Anastasia and St. Thomas Island. Sozopol itself is divided into old and new parts, between which there is a green park area. It is the old part of the city with wooden houses of the XIX century that is considered an architectural reserve.

Sozopol is a small town with a population of just over 5,500 people. The busiest time for Sozopol is summer, from May to September, when tourists from all over the world come here to fully enjoy the atmosphere of a colorful resort, a comfortable climate, sandy beaches, history, culture and a colorful mixture of gastronomic traditions of Balkan and Mediterranean cuisine.

How to get there

To get to Sozopol, you will have to plan a combined route. For example, to fly by plane to Burgas (five flights a week are operated from Moscow all year round), and the price is about 20,000 rubles round trip, and then transfer to Burgas by taxi, car or regular bus, which will take you to the peninsula in 30-40 minutes. More regular flights connect the Russian capital with Sofia, but it will take more than six hours to get to Sozopol from Sofia, which is longer than a flight from the European part of Russia to Bulgaria.

You can also get to the Bulgarian capital by train from the Belorussky railway station Moscow-Sofia trains depart daily, but you will have to spend more than 50 hours on the road, and the ticket price is comparable, and sometimes exceeds the price of the ticket, from €230 one way.

Why Sozopol

Being one of the oldest cities in Bulgaria, the first mention of this settlement dates back to the Bronze Age. Sozopol is extremely rich in historical artifacts. Here, since the VI century BC, its own coin was minted, maritime trade was conducted, as a result of which the city became not only a financial and commercial, but also an important cultural center.

Today, tourism remains the main reason for visiting Sozopol, as well as the main source of income for the region. There are both gentle, sandy beaches with landscaped areas, which is ideal for families with children, and wild strips of the coast, to which, along rocky cliffs, abandoned paths lead.

Every September, since 1984, the Apollonia Festival has been held in Sozopol, within the framework of which theatrical performances, exhibitions, film screenings, music and dance performances, book presentations and other cultural events are held.

The situation on the real estate market

Today, the average cost per square meter in Sozopol is €690. Before making a purchase decision, it is worth clarifying information about the amount of the annual maintenance fee for the house. The richer the internal infrastructure of the complex (swimming pool, garden, playground, Parking, security), the higher the size of the fee will be. «A standard set» will cost €6-10/1 sq. m/year. Owning an apartment in a gated elite residential complex will fall on the shoulders of additional annual expenses in €15-20 per «square ».

The purchase of apartments in residential complexes with the service of a five-star hotel is very popular with today's investors. And, although such apartments are always more expensive than standard ones, the level of services provided allows you not to worry about cleaning the apartment, housing security, food delivery and minor repairs.

For an additional fee, management companies can take care of renting out real estate, providing the owner with a stable income without the need for direct involvement in the process.

Popular areas

In the urban areas of Sozopol, there is a fairly dense development, besides, in recent years, only point-by-point construction of houses without internal infrastructure has been carried out here. Therefore, as a rule, residential complexes lack parking and a swimming pool, as well as restaurants, fitness and a private beach. This purchase option is suitable for those who are considering year-round living with a minimum fee for the maintenance of the complex. And those who are looking for a project with full infrastructure should keep in mind that neither in the Old nor in the New City, nor in Budjak, they simply do not exist.

The old and new towns are inhabited areas of Sozopol, Budjak, a relatively new area with less developed infrastructure. From here to the center of the Old Town, pedestrian streets and many cafes and restaurants are about 3 km away. The rest of the residential districts of Sozopol are, in fact, suburban neighborhoods that do not live a year-round life, but are ideal for summer holidays. There is a large selection of apartments in new modern comfortable complexes. And also a picturesque nature combining greenery, pine trees (which is very rare for the Bulgarian coast) and the sea with fairly well-maintained beaches that are not as crowded as urban Harmony and Hailstone. 

In the old part of Sozopol, it is problematic to find new real estate for purchase. Here, objects for reconstruction or already reconstructed are mainly offered. But it is worth bearing in mind that this is a housing with old communications, which does not have a beach nearby, with narrow streets and no parking. The areas close to Old Sozopol are certainly the most popular for purchasing real estate. Sozopol is a lively year-round city, and buyers of housing in this part of the city will be comfortable both in winter and in summer.

The new districts of Sozopol are no longer the city itself, but the coast that stretches to the north and south of it. To the north is the wonderful village of Santa Marina, rightfully considered one of the most beautiful and expensive urbanizations in Bulgaria. Houses with four or five floors, located among pine trees, right on the seashore, not far from Tsarskoe Beach, appeal to a lot of buyers. Today you can find interesting offers for the resale of housing in Santa Marina, many of which are offered at a discount of 20-30% of the original cost (most sellers are Russians). Given the changed ratio of the ruble to the euro, sellers remain in the black, even despite the discount provided.

Harmani, Budjaka and Kavatsi beaches are located south of Sozopol. And although they are not administratively part of the city, real estate sellers still refer them to Sozopol. Experts recommend considering apartments in complexes on these beaches as seasonal housing – living in them in winter may not always be comfortable. Although some owners (especially those who have their own car) stay here for the winter, enjoying the silence and privacy.

Prices

Offer real estate in Sozopol is quite diverse, prices in the city range from €500 to €750 per 1 sq.m. In Budjak – a new area of the city located south of Sozopol – prices for «square » start from €850 and above. Housing near the beaches of Harmanite and Kavacite costs from €750/1 sq. m. Real estate prices range from the most inexpensive studios for €18,000 in the Harmani beach area, to apartments whose cost exceeds €100,000 in the village of Sveti Toma, which is also often called the area of Sozopol.

The cost of apartments in closed elite complexes exceeds the average price index. So, in the complex "St. John", located 2 km from Smokinya beach, prices start from "700/ sq. m., and apartments in the resort complex "Santa Marina" are much more expensive "about "1100 per square meter meter. Relatively high prices in this condominiumdictated by the uniqueness of the project: a complex of 80 buildings of different storeys (for a total of 1400 apartments) is located on the first line of the sea, near a beach with fine white sand, and on the other three sides the complex is surrounded by mixed forest, which creates a special microclimate here. The apartment has an area of 52 sq. m. m will cost €55 000-58 000, which is quite expensive for one-bedroom apartments here.

Prices for studios 200 m from the sea, overlooking the Bay of Sozopol, start from €16 000-20 000. For a one-bedroom apartment in a new house in the center of Sozopol, you will have to pay about 25 000-30 000. Approximately the same amount will cost a furnished studio on the first line of the sea, or a studio in an exclusive residential complex with swimming pools, parking, bars and restaurants (the annual fee starts from 10 per square meter).

Apartments with two or three bedrooms cost approximately 37 000-45000.

For €70 000 you can buy a house in the old, historical part of Sozopol, but such real estate will require large additional investments in major repairs. A house that is less than 10 years old, which you can enter and live in immediately after payment and receipt of keys, costs about 100 000. With a budget of 160 000-200000, you can buy a new three-storey house in a gated gated complex with a swimming pool and sea views.

Luxury real estate on the first coastline will cost approximately 1.5 million euros.

Those who want to build their own dream house prefer buying land plots. So, the Misar quarter, which used to be an uninhabited hilly area, is now being built up with low-rise buildings with three or four floors. The obvious and undeniable advantages of this type of purchase are the absence of a maintenance fee and low cost. So, a plot of land (about 370 sq. m.) for construction can be purchased for only 36 000, that is less than 100 for a square.

Rent

As for renting, here in Sozopol, first of all, we are talking about long-term year-round rental in the city itself and seasonal short-term rental in complexes with infrastructure. Depending on the apartment, its size and location, long-term housing can be rented for an amount from €100 to €1000 per month. When it comes to short-term rentals, prices range from €15 to €100 per day. In the summer, renting a good one-bedroom apartment in a prestigious complex on the coast ("Santa Marina", "Green Life") will cost at least 2000 euros per month. 

According to official data, a long-term studio rental in Sozopol costs an average of 260 euros per month. The cost of similar housing in the high tourist season starts from €35 per day. Thus, the weekly yield in summer is comparable to the monthly income in winter, although the demand for housing in Sozopol in winter is very low. Having apartments in a closed hotel-type complex, renting out housing can generate income of about 45 euros per day.

You can rent a house in the old part of the city for €75 per day.

Purchase recommendations

According to the observations of experts, Russians, who have become half as many in the Bulgarian real estate market since the fall of the ruble, mostly buy accommodation at the resort for personal use. Bulgarians themselves, on the contrary, take advantage of the prices that have decreased during the crisis, and buy local real estate for investment purposes.

When buying a property for subsequent rental, it is worth considering that the profitability will be seasonal. In addition to unstable profitability, it is necessary to take into account that in the off-season the number of residents of the complex will rapidly decrease, which means that most of the infrastructure will also collapse. In addition, the lion's share of housing maintenance costs will be the payment for heating, which in the new complexes is carried out mainly by air conditioning, while the walls of neighboring empty apartments will cool the housing. Very high energy bills can become another pitfall when buying a home in an apartment hotel.

Real estate in Sozopol is perfect for a quiet summer holiday. The compact size of the city allows you to get to any point on foot, and housing in coastal complexes has the additional advantage of proximity to the sea and excellent views.

PortalHomesOverseas.ru  thanks for the help in preparing the article Larisa Vladimirovna Kostadinova (agency Aurora Plus LC), Krasimira Ivanov (Planeta Partners LTD), Polina Malysheva (Premium), Yulia Titova (RENTSALE) and Irina Chashchina (ttEstate).

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Olga Shoshina

HomesOverseas.ru