Is Albania Cheaper Than Greece, Croatia, or Italy?

I get this question almost every week.
Sometimes from Americans. Sometimes Italians. And lately, even Croatians who are curious why their neighbors keep slipping across the Adriatic to see what’s happening on our side.

And I get it. Prices in the Mediterranean feel like they’ve been climbing nonstop. A simple beachfront coffee in Corfu can cost more than a full lunch in Saranda. A modest apartment near the sea in Italy? You could buy two here.

But the truth is a bit more nuanced — and also more interesting.

I’ll walk you through it the way I usually do when clients join me for viewings along the coast, jumping between real stories, local insights, and the everyday details you only notice when you’ve lived in Saranda long enough to remember when the promenade had just two restaurants.

Let’s start from the beginning.

The South of Albania Has Entered a New Phase — But Prices Haven’t Caught Up Yet

I’ve spent years helping clients explore Saranda apartments for sale, and I’ve seen the shift up close.
The region has changed quickly — new residences, better roads, and a growing wave of foreign investors — but somehow, prices haven’t exploded the way they have in Greece, Croatia, or Italy.

Take a walk along the Albanian Riviera and you’ll feel it immediately.
Everything looks more polished than it did five years ago, yet the market still behaves like it’s “undiscovered.”

That word gets used too often, but… here, it’s still kind of true.

I truly believe Saranda offers the best value on the entire Mediterranean coast.

Sometimes, even I’m surprised at what people can get for their budget. Last month, while showing a couple from France a modern seaview apartment near Skënderbeu Street, the wife kept repeating, “There must be something wrong with the price.”
There wasn’t. It was simply Albania — still affordable, still early.

Comparing Costs: Albania vs Greece, Croatia, Italy

Let me give you the local version of the comparison — the version people actually experience once they arrive.

Property Prices

• Greece: Even an older apartment with limited views can reach prices that feel detached from the property’s condition. And in islands like Corfu or Crete? Forget it.

• Croatia: Beautiful, yes, but heavily saturated. Tourism pushed prices up years ago.

• Italy: You pay for the brand. Even tiny coastal towns carry a premium simply because they are “Italian.”

Albania:

Still the outlier.
Still the opportunity.

A well-built 1+1 on the Riviera costs less than half of what you’d pay across the water. And the rental demand during summer — especially in hotspots like Ksamil — often surprises even seasoned investors.

I’ve seen people cover their annual mortgage payments from two months of July and August bookings.

Daily Life

Restaurant prices, supermarket bills, local transportation — everything here is lighter. Even the small rituals of the day feel less expensive. A morning espresso with a sea breeze? Still around one euro in most places.

The kind of simplicity that makes living here feel… calmer.

Why Albania Stays More Affordable (Even While Getting Better)

People assume Albanian prices are low because it’s “behind,” but that’s not the real story.

Our coast is improving fast — but the international demand is still catching up.

And Albanians, culturally, tend to renovate slowly but well.
The older families in Saranda still prefer to build with their own hands, brick by brick, instead of rushing. Maybe that’s why the newer residences feel sturdy — almost overbuilt.

Another local thing: if you ever drive through Borsh early in the morning, you’ll see men watering olive trees before sunrise. The same hands that grow olives often build villas. It creates a strange mix of tradition and ambition — somehow, both show up in the architecture.

These small cultural rhythms influence prices too. Everything moves forward, but not too fast.

The Property Market — Real Examples That Show the Difference

Instead of talking in generalities, let me walk you through a few actual types of properties currently available.

1. A Quiet-Luxury Ksamil Apartment (Still Affordable Compared to Greece)

A few weeks ago I visited a beautifully designed 1-bedroom apartment in a new 2025 residence in Ksamil. The neighborhood was peaceful, the kind of area where you hear birds in the morning instead of scooters.

The residence has a private swimming pool, clean modern finishing, and is just a short 7-minute walk from the beach.
If this apartment were in Zakynthos or Crete? Triple the price. Minimum.

You can see it here, casually, if you're curious:
https://www.vivaview.al/en/properties/modern-1-bedroom-apartment-in-ksamil-62m2

It’s one of those places where you instantly imagine renting it out during the season or simply enjoying slow summer evenings on the balcony.

2. A Seaview Apartment in Saranda (The Kind Foreign Buyers Always Expect to Cost More)

There’s something special about the upper neighborhoods of Saranda — quieter, safer, and with long, uninterrupted views that stretch across the entire bay.
I walked a client there recently, and the moment we stepped onto the veranda, he stopped talking. Just stared at the water.

This area offers a kind of calm that’s hard to explain unless you’ve been here in the early evening when the city lights start flickering below.

The residence I showed him even had a private pool, luxury finishing, and full, open sea views — nothing blocking the horizon.
If you want a sense of what I mean, here’s the listing:
https://www.vivaview.al/en/properties/seaview-1-bedroom-apartment-for-sale-in-saranda-skenderbeu-street-fully-furnished

The price?
Still well below anything comparable in Italy or Croatia.

3. The Quiet-Luxury Villas of Borsh (A Category of Their Own)

Now, Borsh is something different.
If Saranda is lively and Ksamil is vibrant, Borsh is… serene. Almost meditative.

The long beach, the olive terraces, the smell of fresh bread from the bakery near the main road — it all creates an atmosphere that foreign buyers always describe as “the Europe we lost.”

The White Residence Villas we are building there might be the best example of Albania’s value right now.
Three floors, private swimming pools, panoramic nature-and-sea surroundings, secure private parking, all crafted by a construction company with 15+ years of experience and over 150 people working behind the scenes.

In Italy, villas like these would start at numbers that make people exhale sharply.
In Borsh, they remain within reach — and the land alone feels like a luxury.

You can take a look if you want to understand the vibe:
https://www.vivaview.al/en/projects/white-residence-villas-borsh

What I love most is that they're tucked into nature, but still a simple seven-minute drive to the beach. Quiet luxury in its purest form.

4. New Duplexes in Ksamil — A Strong ROI Story

One more example — because ROI matters just as much as lifestyle.

Ksamil’s duplexes in the upcoming 2025 residence offer something rare:
two swimming pools (one private exclusively for the duplex, another shared), underground parking with full security, and a location just 300 meters from the beach.

Investors love them because they combine privacy, design, and visibility.
Families love them because the layout feels warm and spacious.

If you’re curious:
https://www.vivaview.al/en/properties/luxury-duplex-for-sale-in-ksamil-new-building-pool-near-beach-139m2

Some of these units can reach up to 16% ROI yearly, especially in July–August.

Try finding that in Croatia.

But Don’t Get Me Wrong — Albania Isn’t “Cheap.” It’s Fair. And Still Growing.

Sometimes people misunderstand and think Albania is inexpensive because things are low quality. That’s not the case anymore.
Not in the south.

Construction standards have risen dramatically — I’ve seen it with my own team, especially in the last five years.
Developers are using better materials, insulation has improved, and residences now include amenities (pools, underground parking, smart layouts) that used to be rare.

The value is not in the “cheapness.”
It’s in the ratio between what you pay and what you receive.

Albania feels like Italy in the 90s — raw, beautiful, still growing, still authentic.

And if you live here long enough, you start appreciating the little things:

– the old man selling oranges on the road to Butrint,
– the quiet beaches you can still find in September,
– the way neighbors greet each other with “si e kalove?” even if they met yesterday.

These things matter more than square meters.

A Small Tangent (Because This Always Happens When I Write)

Sometimes, when I’m driving from Saranda to Borsh for a site visit, I stop at a tiny family-run café overlooking the olive fields. They make the thickest mountain tea, the kind that tastes like something your grandmother would swear cures everything.

And while sipping it, I often think:
This place won’t stay like this forever.

Once the world realizes how accessible the Albanian Riviera is — how much beachfront property and seaview apartments still cost here — the prices will shift.

Maybe not tomorrow.
But eventually.

And I always tell clients:
Don’t wait for Albania to become what Greece already is.
Invest while Albania is still becoming Albania.

So… Is Albania Cheaper? Yes. But More Importantly, It’s Still Early.

If you’re someone comparing Greece, Croatia, Italy, and Albania, here’s the honest version from someone who’s lived and worked here for years:

– Albania offers better value
– The lifestyle feels lighter, calmer
– The investment potential is stronger
– And the coast still has that unpolished authenticity people are desperate to find again

Prices will rise — they already are in Ksamil and Saranda — but they’re still nowhere near the Mediterranean standard.

And that’s why so many foreign buyers are suddenly looking this way.
Not because it’s cheap.
But because it still makes sense.

If you’re exploring affordable properties or simply curious about how real estate works here, feel free to reach out anytime.
I’m always happy to guide someone new along the coast — and share a few local secrets on the way.

Sometimes those moments, the quiet ones between property viewings, are what remind me why I love this job.