The price of real estate in the Albanian capital of Tirana continued to increase during the first quarter of 2022 with an average price of 1,143 euros per square meter.

Property prices have skyrocketed in recent years as developers rush to build new construction across the city.

The cost per square meter increased by 3.2% compared to the end of December 2021. The average price of a property inside the main ring of Tirana is 1,300 EUR per square meter, rising to 1,600 EUR in the Blloku area. Outside the main ring, in suburban areas, the price is 1,000 euros per square meter.

Data has been published by Keydata Albania and is a private index of real estate prices in the country. They looked at average and media prices across the city which they divided into three divisions; inner ring, outer ring and Blloku.

Between 2020 and 2022, the average price across the city increased by 100 euros per square meter, from 16 euros in the first quarter of 2022.

A realtor working for a citywide brokerage said demand was high and continuing to rise. When asked who was buying properties, he explained that they were seeing a lot of interest from investors.

“They buy real estate before it’s even built, several apartments at a time. Then sell once built to make a profit. Others buy apartments to rent to foreigners,” he explained.

However, a large part of the construction boom in Tirana is said to be due to dirty money. The Global Initiative against Transnational Crime has estimated that between 300 and 700 million euros of dirty money enters Albania every year, much of which goes to the construction sector.

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