Office construction to drive Sofia real estate boom

Bulgaria’s non-residential construction market is set to grow in 2019 and 2020. According to the Eastern European Construction Forecasting Association (EECFA), office construction will be the major driver, and is predicted to increase by over 10 per cent on average between 2019 and 2021.

Office-related construction is mainly concentrated in the capital Sofia, where existing office space amounted to two million square metres at the end of 2018, with a further 400,000 square metres set to be completed before 2021.

The city is an attractive destination for companies that benefit from a favourable mix of skilled young people, competitive labour costs and rent levels to establish and expand in spheres linked to information technology, business process outsourcing and shared services.

However, demand may reach its logical limitations in the future because of a shortage of skilled labour, the increased application of AI solutions and the changing behaviour of office employees looking for more flexible and remote workspaces.