New internet platform Blokche reports that 84.9% of resident property owners in Sofia hold exactly one apartment, covering 382,552 individuals according to data valid as of October 30, 2026. The platform, which aggregates public records from the Property Register, cadastre, and Registry Agency, shows that private companies own 13% of all capital-city properties, while the state or municipality owns 2%. The figures reveal a stark contrast between single-property homeowners and major corporate and individual asset holders in the Bulgarian capital.
Property Distribution Across Sofia Owners
The vast majority of Sofia residents own a single home, but the statistics compiled by Blokche reveal notable concentration among a small fraction of individuals and corporate entities. While 84.9% of resident property owners have just one apartment, other individuals hold significantly larger portfolios. Data shows that 1,428 Sofia residents own six homes, and 49 people possess 21 properties. The absolute record belongs to an individual holding over 50 apartments located within the exact same district in the capital. Additional figures indicate that another 11.6% of capital property owners have two homes, while 3.1% possess between three and five. Foreign nationals own 0.44% of housing across the entirety of Sofia, with their highest concentrations found in the Vitosha, Oborishte, and Sredets districts. Across the country, over 1.7 million dwellings remain uninhabited due to factors such as migration or investment intentions.
Corporate ownership displays a similar concentration. While 53.6% of companies possessing residential property in Sofia own only one unit, larger portfolios are heavily weighted among select firms. A total of 624 companies own 21 or more properties, and together they control 56% of all corporate-owned housing in the city, with the largest 1% of firms holding 23.2% of such assets. The largest single corporate owner holds over 400 apartments in the city. Overall, private companies control 13% of Sofia’s housing stock, marking a sharp rise from the 1.6% recorded between 2000 and 2004, followed by a rise to 11% for properties acquired during the 2023–2025 period. An additional 21% of properties acquired during 2023–2025 belong to companies holding 10 or more units within the exact same building.
Did You Know? Platform data indicates that documents reaching the cadastre have faced substantial delays over recent years, meaning registry updates can lag behind actual transactions by quite a long margin, sometimes exceeding a year, while the cadastre records only current owners based on the date of the latest title document.
Corporate real estate concentration varies across districts
Corporate real estate concentration varies heavily across Sofia’s administrative regions. Student district (Студентски
) records the highest share of company-owned properties at 37.1%, driven largely by active new construction where developers retain ownership of newly built apartments until final sale, alongside luxury houses situated around the ring road near Simeonovsko Shose that frequently belong to legal entities. Other districts with comparatively high shares of corporate-held housing include Lozenets (20.4%), Vitosha (20.0%), Ovcha Kupel (18.8%), and Triaditsa (17.1%), whereas Novi Iskar (0.8%), Ilinden (3.4%), and Bankya (3.5%) register the lowest shares.
Property experts point to distinct tax and accounting advantages as primary drivers behind the surge in corporate property acquisition. VAT-registered companies purchasing new construction can recover the 20% tax from the state, reducing initial investment costs. Repair, furnishing, maintenance, and asset depreciation expenses qualify as corporate costs, lowering taxable profits and corporate tax liabilities without requiring owners to withdraw funds as personal dividends subject to a 5% tax.
Expert Insight: Low bank deposit interest rates in recent years have left corporate and individual capital with few traditional safe havens against inflation, making real estate an attractive vehicle for parking surplus cash flow, especially following the stimulus provided by approaching eurozone entry during the 2025 property market boom.
Answers to questions about Sofia property ownership
What percentage of Sofia property owners have only one apartment?
Data from Blokche shows that 84.9% of resident property owners in Sofia hold exactly one housing unit, representing 382,552 individuals as of October 30, 2026.
How many properties does the largest individual owner hold?
The individual record-holder in Sofia owns over 50 apartments, with all of those properties situated within the exact same district of the capital city.
What share of Sofia properties do private companies own?
Private companies own 13% of all properties in Sofia, a notable increase from the 1.6% share recorded during the 2000–2004 period.
How might further shifts in corporate and individual property accumulation alter the availability of housing for everyday residents across Sofia?
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