Albania Property: Affordable Housing Internationally Appealing

The EU statistics division, Eurostat has revealed that December 2008 saw construction contract by 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 places like Montenegro and Albania, hardly any, if any of the developments that were already underway have been cancelled, but the construction contraction will be in the fact that no new developments have seen construction start; with developers opting for a wait and see strategy.

Several major property funds have recently been announced focussed on investing in Albanian property, and real estate throughout Eastern Europe.

Take Albania for example, here are some of the reasons why Albania 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

Other property markets in Eastern Europe have displayed a similar resilience to the credit crunch and that is why the funds are taking a closer look into investing in property in the region.