Office trends Q3 2025 by C&W Forton

ECONOMY:exceeding expectations

 

There were several major economic developments in Q3 2025. The Council of the European Union formally approved Bulgaria’s accession to the euro area. Standard & Poor’s and Fitch upgraded the country’s long-term foreign currency credit rating. GDP data for Q2 exceeded expectations, and finally, the IMF, the World Bank and the EBRD all revised upward their Bulgaria forecasts, adding 50+ basis points on top of their previous GDP projections for 2025 and 2026.

 

Most economic indicators maintained their trajectories in Q3. Output in retail, services and construction grew y/y, while industry continued to suffer. Domestic consumption was again the key pillar of the economy, benefitting from a significant wage hike in the public sector in Q2. External demand was weak. Exports of goods dropped in low double digits, as did the preliminary numbers for FDI in July and August. Surveys showed that business climate was stable and economic sentiment remained positive.

 

 

DEMAND: mixed feelings

In Q3 2025, leased office space in Sofia was the highest in seven consecutive quarters. Gross take-up reached 61,000 sqm, up 8% y/y and 49% q/q. IT companies, led by heavyweight SAP, were particularly active securing 57% of the space, up from 34% in Q2 2025. Firms from administrative & support services, manufacturing, and professional services got hold of some 15,000 sqm (roughly equally split between them), and the remaining 18% were taken by players from wholesale, retail, finance, and other industries.

 

Leasing activity was highest in the Main Road submarket. About 40,000 sqm (66% of gross take-up) were contracted in office buildings along Tsarigradsko shose, Cherni Vrah, Vaptsarov, Bulgaria and Todor Alexandrov blvds. The Suburbs were a distant second with 13,600 sqm, followed by the Broad Center and the CBD areas with a combined 7,140 sqm. In terms of lease type, renewals accounted for 48% of total space, followed by new leases with 29%, expansions with 13%, and preleases with 10%.

 

Despite the solid leasing results, asset managers were not of one mind regarding demand. Just over a third of the managers interviewed indicated they felt enquiries for office space exceeded those in Q2, a similar number sensed less enquiries, and over a quarter experienced no change.

Read the full report here.