Amanda Lamb and Channel 4 investigate some of Albania’s property hotspots in TV show

Albania featured for the first time in ‘A Place in the Sun’ show aired in the UK earlier tonight on Channel 4.

In the Third episode of the ‘Place in the Sun Hotspots’, Amanda Lamb takes a tour of Eastern Europe sussing out the prospects in the property markets of Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Poland and Albania. She visits Tirana and Saranda in the show and gives her opinion on buying property in Albania, Europes newest property hotspot.

So what did she have to say about Albania and its emerging property market?

Amanda’s Words of Wisdom

She started by making a list of points that made Albania attractive to the investor:

• 200km of beautiful coastline on the Adriatic
• Developing economy
• Reforming government keen to attract foreign investment
• Summers similar to those in Greece (hardly surprising really though Amanda seeing as they are neighbours)

But she did have some words of caution that we will come on to later.

Tirana - Potential for healthy returns

Her top tip was for investing in Tirana as it was the capital city though she did not consider it to be the place where you would have a cosmopolitan crash pad like you might in Krakow or Prague. But for the savvy investor who is prepared to be patient and wait for the property market to develop she thought the city had potential to offer some very healthy returns.

She commented on the £200 million being pumped into Tirana in EU grants to help re-develop the city centre and that work was being undertaken at a dramatic pace. This is certainly the case and we witnessed extensive construction works being undertaken whilst in Tirana last month.

Albania’s coastline - another big attraction for investors

Next she was off to Saranda at the southern end of Albania’s coastline where she pointed out the rapid emergence of new holiday properties being built up around the bay. One thing she did point out was that Corfu was just a 20 minute boat ride away and that the facilities there were far better established (She forgot to mention that the price of properties on Corfu were at least double the prices of those in Saranda mind).

She also commented that the journey from Tirana International airport was a 6 hour drive from Saranda and so is not that accessible at present. This is indeed correct, however there is significant reconstruction being undertaken on the coastal road that is due to be completed by the end of 2009 and which should help to reduce the overall journey time quite significantly. There is of course the potential to fly to Corfu and catch the hydrofoil to Saranda, though we personally have not done this and so do not know how easy/difficult it actually is.

Tapping into Local Knowledge

Back in Tirana Amanda chatted with a British Property Agent and asked for his opinion on who the Albanian Property market would appeal too. The answer that came back was the early stage investor who would be looking for an opportunity. She was also advised that investors should protect themselves as best as possible by:

• Getting a good lawyer and check the ownership of the title
• Working with a good real estate agent (answers on a postcard for how to spot a bad one)
• Look around and do not necessarily jump with the first agent you talk with

She also teased from the agent his future predictions for the Albanian property market:

“The market can not go down as too much is being invested in the infrastructure. Albania is somewhat behind its northern neighbours and there by in lies the opportunity”

Amanda’s other comments and closing summary on investing in Albanian property

• She admitted that she found the property market in Albania confusing despite being a property professional. Bugger, there is sod all hope for the lay person then?
• Foreign investment in Albania is in its infancy, the market is not yet well established and had a long way to go to catch up with other Eastern European countries. So proceed with caution.
• There is little structure to the pricing so be prepared to haggle.
• Tirana in her opinion was the safest bet for investment due to being the capital, but come and visit the country before you buy and keep your eyes wide open.
• And her parting comment was that Albania was only a place for the brave investor prepared to take a risk

Conclusion

The blip on the radar is getting bigger, but hopefully Amanda has said enough to put of the less risk averse investor leaving all of the real bargains for early investors like ourselves.