Albania offering affordable housing

TIRANA, Feb 25 – The EU statistics division, Eurostat has revealed that December 2008 saw construction contract at 2.2% in the Euro area (EA15), 1.7% across the EU27, when compared to November 2008. This was almost twice the previous month’s contraction of 1.7% and 1.1% November compared to October.
It would be easy to think that this meant new construction had almost terminated throughout the EU, but that is not the case. This is a contraction in the whole industry in the whole area, which means it is not as bad as it sounds.
In Albania, hardly any, if any of the developments that were already underway have been cancelled, but developers are currently opting for a wait and see strategy so barely any new construction has started.
Several major property funds have recently been announced focused on investing in Albanian property, and real estate throughout Eastern Europe.
Here are some of the reasons why Albanian property has been strong against the credit crunch:
Developments were always realistic, aimed at local buyers and international investors.
Price growth was therefore realistic based on rising incomes within the country and rising internal demand.
Economic growth has continued, if at a slower rate, which means wages and demand continue to grow.
In short Albanian property really cracked it: they build developments that international investors would crave, but that local buyers could afford. This has meant that the disappearance of international investors has not caused price drops.