Families and individuals are no longer seeing their home as a shelter, but as an asset that must work every month, whether through short-term rentals for tourists or long-term residential contracts.

Quick profit from rent is looking increasingly attractive, changing the behavior of owners, the balance of the housing market, and especially the profits they have brought in the last two years.

Albania's return to a tourist destination has led many people to rent out their homes for short periods, competing with hotels, but also attracting many foreigners due to cheap daily prices compared to other European countries.

Data from AirDNA, the analytical unit of the Airbnb rental platform, made available to “Monitor”, shows that across the country, on average in 2025, 26.3 thousand apartments were rented through the Airbnb rental platform, up from 21 thousand the previous year, with an increase of 25.3%.

This figure represents almost 3% of the total housing units in the country (about 1.08 million) according to INSTAT, or 6.1% of apartments in buildings (432 thousand).

The number of those who have chosen to leave their homes available to foreigners for days has increased significantly. In January 2021, when the earliest data available from AirDNA is, about 6.2 thousand apartments or other housing units were rented through Airbnb, or 4 times less than today.

The increase in these daily units has increased the income generated by overnight stays of third-country nationals, most of whom are foreigners. According to data from AirDNA, in 2025, a total of Euro 134 million was generated from rentals in Albania, a record level ever recorded in the country. Compared to the previous year, revenues have increased by 23.4%.

The development is noticeable in the last two years and coincides with the increase in the entry of foreign citizens into the country, which reached 11.7 million in 2024 and exceeded 12 million in 2025. With daily rental prices that are cheaper than hotels and the higher number of people who can stay in an apartment, the demand for these accommodation units remains high.

Compared to 2021, this market only circulated Euro 14.6 million. By month, the period from June to September is the one that generates the most revenue, linked to the seasonal trend, where many foreign citizens head to the coast.

The peak is always marked in August, where in 2025, 37.2 million euros were collected, or 24.4% of the total.