The economic crisis has reduced prices of Greek islands and a Bulgarian island that have been put up for sale, according to real estate brokers working in Bulgaria.

The ongoing downturn has caused the price of the Bulgarian island currently on sale to drop by 15% .

According to the online offer, the territory is located 50 meters away from the Danube riverbank between the northern Bulgarian town of Vidin and the village of Tsar Simeonovo.

Certain plots of land on the island have already been bought by Polish and British citizens , according to Polina Stoykova, Chief Operating Officer at real estate agency Bulgarian Properties.

The terrain is suitable for tourism and business development or for building a holiday home.

The land that has so far been bought has been purchased for investment purposes in the expectation that real estate prices will rise and the plots will be resold, Stoykova informs.

Over the past month, the escalating crisis in Greece, combined with falling real estate prices, have rekindled the interest of wealthy buyers in Greek islands.

Buyer interest in such transactions, however, has plummeted from the peak reached in 2008.

Greece has experienced a 10-15% decrease in prices because local sellers can still afford to wait and are not willing to sell cheap and offer dramatic discounts, Stoykova explains.

In her words, the purchase of a Greek island makes the buyer an owner of a privately owned plot of land, while the remaining territory stays state-owned.

Stoykova reminds, however, that the owner is technically able to use the entire territory of the island for walks or for spending a time in solitude because construction works are hardly likely to start on state-owned territory.

Things to keep in mind when purchasing an island are the existing condition of the infrastructure, the territory's accessibility and the availability of nearby medical care facilities.

The island's height above sea level is also a key consideration because of global warming, real estate agents advise.