Stellar launches Albania fund after Baltic success story

TIRANA, Sep 22 – Stellar Albanian fund will be used to acquire land set aside for residential property in capital, Tirana, it reported Monday.
Stellar Asset Management has launched a fund to invest in Albania following the success of a similar product covering countries in the Baltic region.
The Stellar Albanian fund will be used to acquire 22,000 square meters of land zoned for residential housing in a Tirana suburb.
Steve McKeever, property director at Stellar Asset Management, said the Albanian residential property market offered investors a good opportunity for returns.
“At the moment the World Bank has put in about 10m Euros to kick-start the mortgage market and we’re seeing that start to move.”
McKeever said it had already managed to raise half of the 1m Euros it hoped to raise for the closed-end fund, toward total costs of 5.5m Euros.
“We think there are better opportunities in the Albanian residential property market than in the UK at the moment or western EU countries.”
The fund aims for a return to investors of at least 20 per cent a year over two and a half years.
McKeever said the Albanian government and officials had been working hard to make the country more attractive to investors.
“The Albanian government and ministers themselves are making steps to promote growth in their country. They’re providing a better environment for foreign investors and stamping out corruption.”