How do Georgia and Albania line up for a property buyer?
Two coasts compete here: Albania's Adriatic and Ionian shore, from Durres to Vlora and Saranda, and Georgia's Black Sea shore at Batumi. Both sell flats to foreigners outright. Albania takes little at purchase and more over the years; Georgia takes little at either end.
| Criterion | Georgia | Albania | Source, Albania |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flats, per m² | Batumi new build USD 1,960, turnkey (June 2026); Tbilisi new build USD 1,432, white frame (August 2026) | Median asking prices on 1 October 2026: Durres EUR 1,508, Saranda and Ksamil EUR 1,904, Vlora EUR 2,543 | BalkanHome.eu, a listing portal |
| Closed to foreign buyers | Agricultural land | Agricultural land; it can be leased for up to 99 years | US State Department, 2025 |
| Tax on the buyer | None; registry fee GEL 150 | None found in law; notary tax ALL 1,000 (about EUR 11) | Law 9632, Art. 28; PwC |
| VAT on a developer's flat | 18% in the price if the seller is VAT-registered | 20%; resales exempt | Law 92/2014, Arts 48 and 51 |
| Yearly building tax | None unless family income passed GEL 100,000 the year before | 0.05% of the building's value | Law 9632, Art. 22/2 |
| Tax on rent | 5% of gross residential rent | 15% of gross, no costs deducted | Law 29/2023, Arts 15 and 24 |
| Tax on a sale gain | None after 2 years of ownership; 5% within 2 years | 15%, however long you owned it | Law 29/2023, Arts 17 and 24 |
| Residence from the flat | Market value above USD 150,000 | Ownership itself; no minimum value found (our reading) | Law 79/2021, Art. 84 |
| Permanent residence | 10 years; 5 with the USD 300,000 investment permit | 5 years of lawful stay | Law 79/2021, Art. 87 |
| Annual price change | Tbilisi white frame +6.8% to August 2026; Batumi turnkey +9.8% to June 2026 | +10% nationally (first half of 2026) | Bank of Albania, via Monitor |
| EU path | Accession talks suspended in 2024 | All 6 clusters open; 4 of 33 chapters provisionally closed (13 October 2026) | European Commission; European Western Balkans |
Durres, Vlora or Batumi: how much flat does EUR 150,000 buy?
Albania publishes no official city prices, so its lines are median asking prices from one listing portal, BalkanHome.eu, on 1 October 2026. Georgia's are Galt & Taggart developer averages. Read the gaps as orders of size.
| Place | Price per m² | Floor area |
|---|---|---|
| Vlora city, asking | EUR 2,543 | about 59 m² |
| Saranda and Ksamil, asking | EUR 1,904 | about 79 m² |
| Batumi, turnkey (June 2026) | about EUR 1,749 | about 86 m² |
| Durres city, asking | EUR 1,508 | about 99 m² |
| Tbilisi, white frame (August 2026) | about EUR 1,278 | about 117 m² |
Vlora is asked at about 45% above Batumi turnkey, Saranda about 9% above and Durres about 14% below (our calculation, mixed bases). The Bank of Albania reports most sales closing at the asking price or up to 5% under it. A Tbilisi white-frame flat still needs finishing.
What may a foreigner own in Albania, and how sound is the title?
The US State Department's 2025 report on Albania's investment climate finds no restriction on buying residential property, so a foreigner can own a flat or a house. Foreigners cannot buy agricultural land, but may lease it for up to 99 years or buy through an Albanian company. We did not read the land statute itself, so ask a lawyer before buying anything with land attached.
Title is the bigger risk. The same report calls clear title hard to obtain, overlapping titles widespread and first registration unfinished, especially on the valuable southern coast. Before paying anything, check:
- the ownership certificate of ASHK, the State Cadastre Agency, with any mortgage or seizure;
- whether the building has a use permit or is still in legalisation;
- that the seller in the contract is the owner on record.
Georgian titles sit in an electronic Public Registry open to anyone; our guide to buying costs in Georgia lists its fees.
Who pays Albania's transfer taxes, and where does VAT come in?
Some agency guides tell buyers to budget 2% transfer tax. The law says the local transfer tax "paguhet nga personi, që kalon të drejtën e pronësisë": it is paid by the person who transfers ownership, the seller (Law 9632, Article 28(1)). The seller's 15% gain tax must be paid before the cadastre registers the sale (Law 29/2023, Article 17(7)). Those guides therefore contradict the statute, though a contract can still shift a cost to the buyer, so read that clause.
The buyer meets the notary: PwC lists a notary tax of ALL 1,000, about EUR 11, split as the parties agree, and no stamp duty. The notary's fee and the ASHK registration fee are not confirmed; ask for written quotes.
A flat bought new from a developer carries Albania's 20% VAT in its price; a private resale carries none. That follows from Law 92/2014 (Articles 48 and 51(g)) and a 2015 Finance Ministry instruction treating construction as taxable, but we could not read the current consolidated text. Georgia adds 18% VAT only when the seller is VAT-registered.
What does a EUR 150,000 flat cost over ten years in each country?
Take a resale flat bought for EUR 150,000 (ALL 13,641,000; GEL 436,620), let for EUR 9,000 a year and sold after ten years for EUR 200,000. Only taxes and official charges are counted.
| Item | Georgia | Albania |
|---|---|---|
| Tax on the buyer | None | None in law |
| Registration and notary | GEL 150 registry fee, about EUR 52; notary optional | Notary tax ALL 1,000, about EUR 11; notary and ASHK fees not confirmed |
| Building tax, 10 years | None, if family income stays under GEL 100,000 | About EUR 750 at 0.05% a year, if the tax value is EUR 150,000 |
| Tax on rent, 10 years | EUR 4,500 (5%) | EUR 13,500 (15%) |
| Tax on the EUR 50,000 gain | None (owned over 2 years) | EUR 7,500 (15%), more if the reference price is higher |
| Total | about EUR 4,550 | about EUR 21,760 |
Albania's building tax uses an officially set value, not your price, so EUR 75 a year is illustrative; a market-value reform reported in the press was not law on 3 November 2026. Bought new, the same flat would hold EUR 25,000 of Albanian VAT. For the Georgian side in detail, use our buying cost calculator.
Does an Albanian flat bring a residence permit?
Yes. Article 84 of Law 79/2021 on foreigners gives a temporary permit to a foreigner who proves ownership of a property, or of half of it, and keeps it while the permit runs. The first permit lasts up to one year and is renewable yearly while the conditions hold.
Neither Article 84 nor DCM No 858 of 2021, the decision listing the documents, sets a minimum value; that is our reading, so have a lawyer confirm it. The decision asks for a notarised copy of the sale contract, proof of means, a statement of purpose and, at renewal, proof that last year's taxes were paid. Applications go online. The decision speaks of a dwelling, so whether an office qualifies is not confirmed, and the text we read predates the 2025 amendment of the law.
Georgia instead needs an accredited valuation above USD 150,000; our EUR 150,000 flat equals USD 168,105, enough if the valuer agrees. See our guide to residence by property.
From a yearly permit to permanent residence: how long does each country take?
Albania grants permanent residence after at least 5 years of lawful, continuous stay (Law 79/2021, Article 87), allowing absences of up to 6 months at a time and 10 in total. Income, Albanian health insurance, housing and paid taxes are also required. The law does not exclude property-permit years, but practice is not confirmed, nor is how a cap of 5 renewals of a 1-year permit (Article 33(4)) applies to owners. Ask a lawyer.
We found no citizenship-by-investment programme in force in Albania. Georgia's timeline is in the first table; our country comparison tool sets the Georgian routes against other countries.
How is rent taxed: 15% of the gross or 5%?
Albania treats rent as investment income taxed at 15% (Law 29/2023, Articles 15 and 24(3)), with no costs deducted (Article 24(4)), for residents and non-residents alike. A business tenant withholds the tax (Articles 58 and 59); with a private tenant, the owner declares and pays.
Holiday lets pay the same 15%. According to HLB Albania and expatax.al, an owner who only lets short term needs no business tax number from 2026 and declares on the DIVA platform. A draft tourism law, reported by Oculus News on 1 November 2026, would make Airbnb and Booking hosts register each unit on e-Albania; it is not law, and its fines are not confirmed.
Georgia takes 5% of gross residential rent: on EUR 9,000 a year, EUR 450 against Albania's EUR 1,350 (our calculation). Georgian filing rules: rental income tax in Georgia.
What does the seller owe when the flat is sold?
Albania taxes the gain at 15% however long you owned the flat; the law lists no main-home or holding-period exemption (Law 29/2023, Articles 15 and 24), and neither does PwC. The sale price counts at the higher of the contract price and the official reference price (Article 17(5)), so a low contract price saves nothing. Joint Instruction No 34 of 29 December 2023 cuts a flat's reference value by 1% per year of use, up to 30%.
In Georgia, a home owned for more than two years sells free of income tax; a quicker sale pays 5% on the gain.
How fast are prices, buyers and visitor numbers moving?
The Bank of Albania's house price index, built from a survey of about 230 builders and agencies, rose 10% in the year to the first half of 2026 but was flat on the half before, after annual rises of 41.7% and 28% in the two halves of 2025 (Monitor, 23 September 2026). Tirana gained 9%. About 20% of homes went to non-resident buyers, 85% of them EU citizens. Colliers counted 48% foreign buyers in Batumi in September 2026; see our Batumi market review and, for Tbilisi, our price index.
INSTAT counted 12.47 million entries of foreign citizens in 2025 and 10.73 million from January to September 2026, up 4.9%. These are border crossings, not tourists: day trips and diaspora members with foreign passports count too, so they cannot be set against Georgian visitor figures.
Albania publishes no official rents or yields and is absent from the Galt & Taggart peer table that gives Batumi 7.1% gross (June 2026). Tbilisi's 8.7% for August 2026 is in our rent index.
Lek or lari, and how far along is each road to the EU?
Both currencies float. The Bank of Albania's official rate on 3 November 2026 was ALL 90.94 per euro, and Albanian press reports put the euro at historic lows against the lek. In Batumi and Tbilisi, developers quote in US dollars; buyers who earn euros therefore take dollar risk there, and lek risk on Albanian running costs.
Albania has negotiated with the EU since July 2022. All six clusters were open by the end of 2025, says the European Commission; three chapters were provisionally closed in July 2026 and a fourth, Chapter 20, on 13 October 2026. Closing talks in 2027 is Albania's ambition, not an agreed date. Georgia's accession process was suspended in 2024. For a neighbour further ahead, see Georgia or Montenegro, with 21 of 33 chapters provisionally closed; for an inland Balkan option, Georgia or Serbia.
Which priorities point to Albania, and which to Georgia?
| If you care most about | Favours | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A residence permit at any price level | Albania | No minimum value found in the law or decision (our reading), against Georgia's USD 150,000 floor |
| Permanent residence sooner | Albania | 5 years of lawful stay, against 10 in Georgia on a 1-year permit |
| Low tax while letting and on resale | Georgia | 5% of rent and no gain tax after 2 years, against 15% on both |
| A clean, searchable title | Georgia | An electronic registry, against unfinished first registration on the Albanian south coast |
| An advancing EU candidate | Albania | All clusters open and 4 chapters provisionally closed, against suspended talks |
Outside Europe, see Georgia or Dubai.
Risks and exceptions
- Skipping the title check on the coast. Overlapping titles are common where first registration is unfinished.
- Budgeting the buyer's 2% from an agency guide. The law puts the transfer taxes on the seller.
- Planning short lets around draft rules. The host registration duty was still a draft on 3 November 2026.
- Moving money from Albania to a Georgian bank without papers. Albania is still on the National Bank of Georgia's high-risk list (Order 12/04 of 21 January 2026), although FATF removed it from its grey list in October 2023, so expect extra questions; see our page on proof of funds for a Georgian bank.
Frequently asked questions
Can a foreigner buy a flat in Albania?
Yes. Residential property is open to foreign individuals; agricultural land is not, though it can be leased for up to 99 years.
Does the buyer pay transfer tax in Albania?
Not under Law 9632 and Law 29/2023, which put the transfer tax and the gain tax on the seller; the buyer meets the ALL 1,000 notary tax and unconfirmed fees.
What property value gives Albanian residence?
We found no minimum in the law or its decision; owning the home, or half of it, is the condition. Have a lawyer confirm it.
Is the Albanian coast cheaper than Batumi?
Durres is asked at EUR 1,508 per m² and Vlora at EUR 2,543, against about EUR 1,749 for Batumi turnkey.
Sources
- Law No 29/2023 on income tax, consolidated text to June 2024, published on aksesdrejtesi.al (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Joint Instruction No 34 on the income tax on transfers of immovable property, Ministry of Finance and Economy and State Cadastre Agency, 29 December 2023 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Law No 9632 on the system of local taxes, consolidated to Law 67/2023, published on qeverisjavendore.gov.al, August 2024 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Law No 92/2014 on value added tax, text of 24 July 2014, copy published on folklor.gov.al (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Law No 79/2021 on foreigners, updated with Law 43/2025, and DCM No 858 on residence documents, consolidated to May 2024, Albanian State Police (accessed 3 November 2026)
- 2025 Investment Climate Statements: Albania, US Department of State, 2025 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Albania tax summaries: individual income determination, individual other taxes and corporate other taxes, PwC, reviewed 22 July 2026 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Bank of Albania: official exchange rate, 3 November 2026; Supervisory Council decisions, 2 September 2026; real estate market survey (accessed 3 November 2026)
- House price growth slowed in the first half of 2026, Monitor, 23 September 2026, and Housing prices still rising, pace slows down in Tirana, Albanian Daily News, 29 April 2026 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- INSTAT movements of citizens: December 2025, 23 January 2026, and September 2026, 23 October 2026 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Apartment prices in Albania, Q3 2026, BalkanHome.eu, listing portal, asking prices at 1 October 2026 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Short lets: new tax reporting obligations from 2026, HLB Albania; no tax ID needed for short-term rentals, expatax.al, 3 October 2025; draft registration for Airbnb and Booking rentals, Oculus News, 1 November 2026 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Albania, European Commission, and Albania provisionally closes Chapter 20 in EU accession talks, European Western Balkans, 14 October 2026 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Galt & Taggart residential reports: Tbilisi, August 2026 (23 October 2026) and Batumi, second quarter of 2026 (14 August 2026) (accessed 2 November 2026)
- Colliers Georgia data as reported by International Investment, 20 October 2026 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Georgian law and fees: Law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons and Tax Code, Legislative Herald of Georgia; property registration fee, National Agency of Public Registry (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Official exchange rates, National Bank of Georgia, 3 November 2026 (accessed 3 November 2026)
- Order No 12/04 amending the list of high-risk jurisdictions, National Bank of Georgia, 21 January 2026, and historical overview, Financial Intelligence Agency of Albania, on the FATF delisting of October 2023 (accessed 3 November 2026)
Change log
- - Comparison published from Albanian law, the Bank of Albania, INSTAT, PwC and Georgian law and market data.