Bulgarian real estate brokers pocket a commission of up to 15% from the sale of holiday homes, said Teodora Dimitrova, executive director of international brokerage ERA. The national realtor commission average is 3%, up around a percentage point from the year-ago period.

According to ERA, the 3,600 or so Bulgarian real estate agencies handle only 37% of domestic property transactions which increased in number to 56,000 in Q1 versus 47,000 a year earlier. Residential prices in Bulgaria gained 20% in Jan-Apr and should add another 10% by the year-end, said Dimitrova.