Georges,

I am not in the land development business, but am currently living in Tirana and assisting a real estate company in expanding their international clientele. I am very enthusiastic about the country in general and the potential for real estate development in particular. I have traveled throughout the country over the past 8 years and have seen the progress made so far. I have also seen lots of people make a lot of money in real estate deals and have observed the upward march of land and housing prices.

I bought an apartment in Tirana in 2002 off-plan. Knowing the developer through family connections ensured I got the best possible price in the best location with full confidence in the quality of construction. The value of my apartment has trebled since I bought it.

Now, the days of such spectacular growth are done in central Tirana. There is enough demand and the available land for building is rapidly disappearing so that prices start out high and stay high. However, I think there may be opportunities for profit or affordable homes both within the city and throughout the country.

Another writer raised the specter of instability in Albania and Kosova as reasons to be wary of investing here. Like many people, he/she misunderstands the instability in Kosova and the effect it had (or didn't have) in Albania. The war in Kosova actually helped improve the stability in Albania proper which was emerging from the chaos of 1997-1998. Since then, none of instability there or in Macedonia has had a negative effect on Albania's situation. Albania does have "issues" which effect an investor, but backsliding into anarchy is not one. Electricity is!

If you'd like to discuss the possibilities further, please drop me an e-mail at sksintirana(at)hotmail(dot)com.
Steve Schneider
etiinformation(dot)com