When communist regimes in Eastern Europe collapsed roughly 10 years ago, a prominent leader of the democratic movement in Albania was quoted to say: We don’t need to go westward, because geographically our country is situated more westward than most of the Eastern European states . If we consider this country not by its geography, but by its social standards, then it will become the easternmost among all the former communist states in Europe.

In Albania’s growing economy, real estate has emerged as one of the most appealing investment areas for domestic as well as foreign investors. Apart from the economic growth which is spurring growth in the real estate sector, the recognition of the need to invest heavily in infrastructure and of involving private participation therein, the recent legislation regarding creation of Special Economic Zones and the growth of road concession contracts witness it.

Some people have been reporting that the Bulgarian property market is overheating – that due to stellar growth in 2003-2005, the current market is now slowing. In fact, although this true to some degree, this is not the full truth. What you have to remember is that growth goes through many separate cycles, and most of these, like most of things in life, are non-linear.

The early stage in Bulgaria is over. Sorry to say that, but it’s true. If you’re hoping to be in there before everyone else, the first person into that undiscovered investment opportunity, then i’m afraid it’s too late. And it’s no good to do what everyone else is doing, if you’ve read anything about Sunny Beach recently, you’ll know that buying off-plan miles back from the beach is not a good idea either.