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Which is cheaper for a flat by the sea: Albania, Bulgaria or Montenegro? On the figures that can be compared, Albania: about €1,720 per m² on average in 2025, against €2,557 for new flats in Montenegro in the second quarter of 2026. Bulgaria cannot be put in the same table, because its statistics office stopped publishing average prices per square metre in 2014; its index shows prices rising about 15% a year. Bulgaria, however, taxes rent and sale gains least and has used the euro since January 2026. Below, the three countries side by side.
| Albania | Bulgaria | Montenegro | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average price per m² | €1,720 (2025, all dwellings, Deloitte) | no official figure since 2014 | €2,557 (new flats, Q2 2026, Monstat) |
| On the coast | Durrës median €1,500 (Domlivo listings, 18.10.2026) | no official figure | €2,838 (coastal region, new flats) |
| Price change | +6.2% (2025, Deloitte) | +15.5% (Q2 2026, Eurostat) | - |
| Currency | lek | euro since 1 January 2026 | euro, without an EU agreement |
For a Polish buyer the reference point is Poland itself: Deloitte puts the average new flat in Poland at €3,008 per m² in 2025. On Albania's coast the price depends more on the street than on the town; our overview of prices by coastal town has the details, and Sarandë by district the town Poles know best.
| Albania | Bulgaria | Montenegro | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buying a resale flat | none on a flat; the seller pays 15% on the gain (the 2% local tax applies to land only) | 0.1-3%, set by the municipality | 3% up to €150,000, 5% up to €500,000, 6% above |
| New build | no VAT on apartment sales | 20% VAT | 21% VAT on the first sale |
| Annual property tax | 0.05% of fiscal value | 0.01-0.45% of tax value | 0.25-1% of market value |
| Rent | 15% | 10% | 15% after costs |
| Sale | 15% of the gain | 10%; a home held over 3 years is exempt (one a year) | 15%; only the owner's main home is exempt |
For a buyer who wants to let the flat and sell it one day, Bulgaria's rates are the lowest of the three. For a buyer who wants the lowest purchase price and the lowest annual tax, Albania wins: 0.05% of the fiscal value is usually a few thousand lek a year.
Polish residents are taxed on Albanian rent under the 1993 Polish-Albanian treaty: Albania taxes it, Poland exempts it with progression. Our guide Albania for Polish buyers covers the treaty, the Polish return and the steps of a purchase. Flats for sale on the Albanian coast are in the catalogue.
Than Montenegro, clearly: €1,720 per m² on average in Albania in 2025 against €2,557 for new flats in Montenegro in mid-2026. Bulgaria publishes no official average price per m², so a precise comparison is not possible; its index rose about 15% in a year.
In Bulgaria, at 10%. Albania and Montenegro charge 15%; Montenegro first deducts costs, with a 30% flat rate or 50-70% for tourist lets. In Albania a holiday let is taxed after the platform's commission.
Bulgaria: 10% on the gain, and a home held more than three years is exempt. Albania and Montenegro tax the gain at 15%; Montenegro exempts only the owner's main home, and Albania has no holding-period exemption.
Yes in all three. In Bulgaria EU citizens may own buildings and, under conditions, land. In Montenegro foreigners may buy flats and houses but not farmland, forest or land near the land border. In Albania only farmland is closed.
Bulgaria joined the euro area on 1 January 2026, and the lev stopped being legal tender on 1 February. Montenegro uses the euro without an agreement with the EU. Albania keeps the lek, though property prices are usually quoted in euros.
