New-build apartments for sale in Tirana, Albania

Apartments still under construction in Tirana ask a median of €144,100, or €1,595 per square metre, with half of them between €95,400 and €244,000 and the cheapest units from €57,200. One-bedroom flats in this group have a median of €81,300, two-bedroom flats €108,300. Compare with the whole market of apartments for sale in Tirana: in most Albanian towns a flat from plans costs about the same per square metre as a finished one, because developers price for the finished building and the discount for buying early sits in the payment schedule rather than in the price list.

Buying from plans is the normal purchase in Albania, not the exception: most new supply on the coast and in Tirana is sold before the building is finished. There is no escrow. Your protection is a notarised pre-sale contract that identifies the unit on the permit plans, registered at the State Cadastre under Article 50 of Law 111/2018, which marks the unit as taken and keeps it away from the developer's creditors; payments by bank transfer in stages you can see; and a large final tranche held until the use certificate and the final deed. Our guide to buying off-plan in Albania walks through every step.

Tirana is building in every direction: residential towers around the centre and Blloku, large complexes along the ring road and towards the lake park, blocks at Kashar and along the Durrës highway, and cheaper developments in Kamëz and on the slopes towards Dajt. The capital's new build sells to local families and to investors who want a year-round tenant, and completion dates matter more here than anywhere, because the tenant does not wait.

The building permit and the plans it was issued for; the land registered in the developer's name and free of mortgages older than your contract; the developer's finished buildings, visited, not photographed; a contract with the completion date, the delay penalty, an area tolerance and a no-changes clause, because a unit that no longer matches the permit plans cannot be registered. Do not negotiate the price list, which almost never moves; negotiate the schedule and the finish. Our due diligence guide lists the documents, and our guide to the cost of buying property in Albania covers the 4 to 7% closing costs, which apply to new build as to resale.