Tirana, a costly city to live in!

17.4 years in Tirana needed to buy an apartment, 17 years in Milano, 16.8 years in Paris, 12.7 in New York! Living in Tirana is almost that expensive as living in other capitals of the Balkan and Europe. Based on questionnaires carried out by the institute “Merce”, the Living Cost Index 2016, where 209 countries are included, Tirana is in the 186th place, referring to the estimations on the housing costs, transport, food, clothing, etc. An apartment in Tirana may cost 70-100 thousand euro on average, whereas in Milano and Paris it may cost even 300-500 thousand euros, but when it comes to the purchasing power of its residents, the Albanian capital is even more expensive. An index of Numbeo.com ranks 269 cities in the world, based on the ratio between price and incomes, which is the best index showing how people can afford the purchase of an apartment. Tirana is in the 235th place being ranked among cities where the purchasing of a house is not that affordable. Paris in France and Milano in Italy are ranked in the 231st and 232nd place. New York is even cheaper ranked in the 194th place. This index, according to Numbeo is calculated as the average price of apartments compared to average incomes in families expressed in annual incomes. This index takes into account the net incomes, an apartment of average size 90 square meters and the price per square meter (as an average between the price in the city center and in the suburb of the city). According to this index, there are needed 17.4 years to buy an apartment in Tirana, whereas in Milano, a family needs 17 years of incomes to buy an apartment, while in Paris 16,8 years. In New York, there are needed 12, 7 years and in Zurich 10.1 years, meanwhile in Vienna, one of the Europe`s favorable destinations, only 13, 7 years. Currently, the apartment prices within the city ring vary from 1200-2000 euros per square meter, but there are also some areas whose prices per square meter have significantly increased. In Tirana center, the apartment price has reached 3000 euros per square meter and there is this growing tendency. The Bank of Albania confirmed lately that the prices index of apartments in the capital increased by 4% in the last trimester of 2016. Real estate agents and builders expect this trend to continue this year. Unlike the center, apartments in the suburbs of Tirana are the cheapest in the region and prices vary between 450-600 euros per square meter, while in the region is a minimum of 800 euros / m2. In another study, Tirana resulted among the last three cities in Europe in terms of quality of life.