Builders predict that apartments' prices will further increase, with their expectations being higher than in 2016, when data are reported. 

In the survey conducted by the Bank of Albania in the framework of the business and consumer survey, the following question was addressed to construction entities:

How do you expect the prices you will set to change over the next 3 months? 

-They will grow 
-They will not change 
-They will fall 

The balance of answers to this question was positive, at 12.4, from 8.6 and 10.2 respectively in the previous two months and at the same time the highest level since May 2016, when the Bank of Albania started publishing the index. (According to the Bank of Albania methodology, the balance indicator takes values ​​between -100 and +100. An indicator above 0 indicates a greater number of positive than negative responses in a given quarter.) 

From the beginning of 2020, builders expect more price increases than their decrease, unlike the previous period, when the balance was negative. Apartment prices have risen 70% since 2005.

Other data show that in recent years, apartment prices in the country, mainly the capital, have risen steadily. The average price of one square meter in the capital at the end of the first 6 months of 2021 reached 1102 euros / square meter, according to the index of "Keydata Albania", a publication by Çelësi Media Group. 

Compared to 2005, the earliest year when the calculation started, this index has increased by about 70%. The rise in prices continued in the first 6 months of 2021, where the other trader, that of the average real selling prices of apartments in Tirana (calculated in proportion to the number of apartments for sale in a given period) increased by 4.22%, compared to the end of 2020. 

Prices rise, but purchasing power falls 

While apartment prices have risen at much higher rates than wages in recent years, most of the citizens state that they do not plan to buy a house. 

Also in the survey of businesses and consumers, the Bank of Albania asks individuals: “Do you plan to buy or build a house in the next 12 months (to live yourself, a family member, as a vacation home, for them rented, etc.” and the options are: Yes, for sure; Possible; There are many possibilities that no; No; I do not know). 

The balance of answers to this question is -86, for the second quarter 2021 (from -88 to the first quarter), close to the maximum negative level (of -100), which indicates a high inability to buy a home. Of the 15 questions asked by the Bank of Albania to measure consumer confidence (including the assessment of the financial situation, unemployment, expectations for large purchases, savings trends, unemployment, etc.) this is the answer that has the highest negative balance. 

(Source: Monitor)