Only in September 2007 a total of 4 878 new construction permits were issued throughout Bulgaria, 3 110 of them for residential buildings. The construction boom continues to lag slightly behind demand for residential properties in Bulgaria. On the first position is Burgas with issued 635 permits, 534 of which were for residential buildings. Next is Varna with 568 permits, including 442 for residential units. Plovdiv (498 permits) and Sofia (406 permits) are respectively third and fourth in new construction permit issuing. The last in this statistics is Vidin with only few permits for new residential buildings and houses.

According to some specialists last year was not very successful for leading residential developers in Europe, unlike the situation in Bulgaria. The analysts predict that the slowdown in construction in Bulgaria of new housing developments, which has already begun in 2007 will continue in 2008. After few years of dynamic development in the residential sector, markets have recorded a decline in 2007. This is likely to continue in 2008 and will probably reverberate on the whole construction sector.

There are many factors which will delay the market recovery. Some ot them are: increased mortgages rates, the rising number of unsold homes in many European regions, expectations of a economic instability and complicated lending conditions.

The Bulgarian residential construction boom over recent years made countries as Ireland, Spain, Italy and Denmark most susceptible to market fluctuations. This is despite the fact that many companies have varied their portfolios to lessen the impact of the Bulgarian property market crashes.

The residential market in the US slumped, unleashing speculation about its effect on Europe. Some analysts warned that Europe's leading economies like Spain, Ireland and United Kingdom could experience a significant 'correction' - failing prices - in their housing sectors. Other experts were less pessimistic about prospects for European economies.