Burgas province was the second most active property market in Bulgaria in the third quarter. Buyers registered 2,047 deals there, down 14.3% on the year, according to the Registry Agency.

Across Bulgaria, 45,312 property deals were registered between July and September. That's the smallest quarterly total in at least 21 years, and the first time the figure has dropped below 50,000 since 2010.

Burgas and Sofia held up best among the big markets, but even there activity fell short of 2023 levels. In Sofia, 7,282 deals were registered, down 21.2% from July–September last year.

The slowdown hit holiday homes too. In Nesebar, which includes the Sunny Beach market, deals fell 37% and sank back to 2020 levels. Deals in Tsarevo, Balchik and Kavarna were down by about a quarter. In the mountains around Bansko, the drop topped 30%. Around Chepelare it was close to 40%. Around Borovets, deals held up best, down less than 5%.

The cooldown follows a strong year, when many Bulgarians put their savings into property ahead of the country's official entry into the eurozone in January 2026.

Plovdiv province recorded 3,356 deals, down 23.9% — its weakest quarter since 2013. That marks a sharp turnaround from the first half of the year, when Plovdiv's drop was just 2.1%.

In Varna, deals fell 26.3% and dropped below 3,000 for a quarter for the first time in 11 years, after briefly stabilising in spring.

Stara Zagora registered 880 deals, down nearly 28% — the lowest level in at least 20 years and only the second time in two decades the count has fallen below 1,000.

Ruse province was the exception on mortgages. Deals there fell to 1,064, down 13.1%, but mortgages registered rose 24.2% on the year. Ruse is the only one of the six biggest provinces where mortgages rose. Mortgages fell in Varna province by 9.7%, in Sofia by 7.6% and in Stara Zagora by 3.1%.

The data cover 113 towns, and only six of them saw deals rise. The biggest increase was in Blagoevgrad, up 19.8%, followed by Gotse Delchev, up 11.2%. Kotel, Parvomay, Slivnitsa and Madan also saw more deals.