When communist regimes in Eastern Europe collapsed roughly 10 years ago, a prominent leader of the democratic movement in Albania was quoted to say: We don't need to go westward, because geographically our country is situated more westward than most of the Eastern European states . If we consider this country not by its geography, but by its social standards, then it will become the easternmost among all the former communist states in Europe
Forget everything you have learned about Eastern Europe
when you are planning to go to Albania. Don't think you can understand its
people by simply transfering your own experience from other poor countries you
have already visited. Albania is something unique and it will remain unique in
Europe for a long time ahead.
The absence of financial markets and the irrelevance of
financial variables in the workings of the real economy, especially the
enterprise sector, have meant that the development of the real estate market
has taken place within the wider evolution of the real and financial economy.
At present, real estate lending and real estate transactions in Albania are
constrained by a number of factors, including a large concentration of
unregistered properties, delays in enforcement of legal contracts,
excessivepermitting requirements, urban development activities stalled by an
overly layered administrative framework and by the length of resolution of the
restitution issue. The lack of information on the magnitude of the registration
problem, on actual household income and the market value of real estate
transactions further exacerbate the issues.
Real estate prices in the capital seem very high considering that the average
salary in the country doesn't exceed $100 a month. Most apartments vary between
$300 and $650 per sq.meter (1 sq.meter=10 sq.feet). If you want to rent
something, rents for 2-room (not 2BR) apartments go between $200 and $400.
3-room apartment rents can reach $800 and 4-room condos - $1200 a month.
Office rents vary between $5 and $10 per sq.meter a month
but they can reach as high as $40 a month in Tirane downtown. Rents for
commercial properties are similar. The land, which usually can be purchased for
$5-$10 per sq.meter, may reach $100 for the lots to be expropriated around the
high-speed interstate road under construction from the Albanian port of Durres
to Bulgarian port of Bourgas via Macedonia.
In Albania's growing economy, real estate has emerged as one of the most
appealing investment areas for domestic as well as foreign investors. Apart
from the economic growth which is spurring growth in the real estate sector,
the recognition of the need to invest heavily in infrastructure and of
involving private participation therein, the recent legislation regarding
creation of Special Economic Zones (Albania One Euro plan) and the growth of
road concession contracts witness it.
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