Although both countries are yet to enjoy direct no-frills air access from the UK and both have had tough penalties imposed should they fail to make progress in areas such as tackling organised crime and corruption, in other respects EU membership will find the Bulgarian and Romanian resort property markets at different stages of maturity.

While the Romanian property market has failed to completely catch on in the imagination of British buyers of overseas property, Bulgaria has already enjoyed a boom stretching back almost to the start of the century.

Yet, whilst a more mature property market may mean investors feel safer putting their money into Bulgaria, it does mean that those investing now cannot expect to see such big gains, as Christophe Gater from Bulgarian property consultancy New Estate explains: "The biggest gains were made by the first movers, the pioneers and big risk takers. The days of phenomenally easy profits have gone, but then again so has the risk that came hand in hand", he says.

Nonetheless, Gater expects those who already own property to profit from the news of Bulgaria's impending EU membership: "Those who already own properties can only expect even higher levels of capital gains over the forthcoming accession period, which I suspect will be catalysed by a small boom in the number of buyers eager to conclude before 'its in'".

He also feels that Bulgaria's property market is "perfectly ripe for the individual investors, ideally balanced between risk, cost and reward".

And like individual investors, according to Gater property developers and fund managers will also welcome the news that investing in Bulgarian property will become a more secure undertaking.

"The [announcement by Barroso] has been the sign that many large developers have been waiting for before they commit enormous resources to the Bulgarian market", says Gater. "Similarly, the ears of many fund managers would have pricked up today as this green light to the EU immediately reduces the risk of the market without immediately increasing its prices and other barriers to entry."

This could also mean that the property market of Sofia, Bulgaria's capital, may now start to develop more quickly, partly driven by a rise in prosperity for the Bulgarian population – a result of EU membership that will also anchor the Bulgarian property market in the more stable conditions fostered by rising domestic demand.

Gater expects these conditions to also have an impact on Bulgaria's secondary cities: "Places like Varna will become all year round cities, not just active during the summer, as there will be considerably more service industry activity. Investment from multinationals will now target such urban areas inside the EU where labour is still at its cheapest. This will result in more offices in Bulgaria's cities, more modern smart city buildings, shopping centres and new homes for the employees, not old communist blocks."

So, flights from the UK to Sofia, Burgas and Varna could once again be filled to bursting with British property investors furiously scribbling sums on notepads, working out how much they could profit from Bulgaria's accession to the EU.

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Read other articles about Bulgaria:
Bulgarian property boom far from over
Join the property in Bulgaria bonanza!
Bulgarian mortgage boost

Article published on 27 September 2006