Albanian citizens among the most pessimistic in Europe about buying a home in 2025

2025-11-25 07:11:00, Ekonomi CNA

Albanian citizens among the most pessimistic in Europe about buying a home in

Eurostat data for the third quarter of 2025 show a significant decline in consumer confidence in Europe for buying or building a home within the next 12 months.

Albania, with a value of -82.8 points, ranks among the most pessimistic countries on the continent in this regard. Eurostat measures the confidence index through the balance of responses.

The balance is calculated as the difference between the percentage of those who think “yes, I will buy/build” and those who think “no.” A value of –82.8 means that the vast majority of Albanian households (about 80–85% more than the optimistic ones) do not see buying or building a house in the next 12 months as possible.

The balance index is negative in all countries and implies that most citizens do not expect to take such a step in the short term.

Compared to the European Union average (-77.9) and the Eurozone average (-79.0), the level of Albanian consumer confidence is lower. This indicates that expectations for buying or building a home are weaker than in most European countries.

Part of this pessimism is related to the strong increase in housing prices in Albania, especially in coastal areas and in Tirana, where high demand from domestic and foreign investors has pushed the market beyond the realistic possibilities of middle-income families.

Albanian consumer confidence for buying a home in the next 12 months is in a similar position to Belgium (-82.1) and Bulgaria (-78.3), but better than Italy (-88.9) and Serbia (-98.7), where pessimism is even deeper.

However, some other Balkan countries such as Montenegro (-72.6) and Croatia (-72.5) have shown somewhat more positive expectations, perhaps as a result of more stable developments in the tourism sector and foreign investment in housing.

In contrast, Central and Northern European countries such as Germany (-69.3) and Denmark (-68.3) display higher levels of confidence, reflecting economic stability and easier financing opportunities for their citizens.

Overall, consumer confidence in Europe shows a noticeable slowdown in willingness to invest in real estate.

This is related to high interest rates that have continued to remain at tight levels throughout 2025, following the European Central Bank's policies to curb inflation, as well as general economic uncertainties that directly affect households' decisions on major spending.

In the case of Albania, the score of -82.8 indicates the gap between income and housing market prices, which has widened significantly in recent years.

This indicator proves that ownership is becoming an increasingly unattainable goal for the middle and lower classes, while the real estate market remains dominated by investments for profit purposes and not by the real need for housing./ Monitor