Today we’re going to talk about the cheapest countries to invest in real estate in 2023. There are many reasons why you would want to invest in real estate in a cheap country. You may want to invest in a property to run an Airbnb or to find long-term tenants. You can also choose to invest in a property, renovate and resell the property. This can be harder to do if you are doing it in a different country, but some countries have a number of advantages, the prices per square meter or feet can be lower than in your home country and in many cases, you can even get a residence permit just by buying property in that country. Before we start, I would like to find out that I will not list the absolute cheapest countries to invest in real estate, but the cheapest countries to invest in property where the investment makes sense. That is countries and cities in which you can get affordable properties and at the same time get a decent return on your investment.
The cheapest countries to buy real estate in 2023 we’ve listed are:
- Montenegro
- Albania
- Cambodia
- Romania
- Georgia
- Turkey
- Hungary
Montenegro
Montenegro is the first country in our list today and as you probably know, Montenegro is a country I often recommend here in TravelstoEurope. Montenegro has some of the cheapest property prices in Europe, but the prices vary wildly around the country, we can basically divide a country in three regions regarding prices:
The coast that is the Kotor Bay, Budva, all these places that are sought during the summer season and obviously the coast is the most expensive place in the country to buy real estate.
Then the Capital Podgorica, which is much more affordable than the coast.
And the rest of the country which is not on the coast and also not the capital and these are cities which much lower demand, also extremely low prices in general. Montenegro is likely to join their European Union in the coming years, bringing more stability and less corruption to the country in the long term, which the then obviously attract more investment and qualified expats. Apart from being a great place to invest in real estate, Montenegro also has other pretty significant advantages. Among them it is easy to get a residence permit in the country, taxes in Montenegro are much lower than the average in Europe, Montenegro is a pretty safe country and the nature as you can see, the nature in Montenegro looks stunning.
Talking about prices per square meter, in the capital pot Podgorica they currently hover around 1 500 Euros. In coastal cities like Budva, Kotor and Herceg Novi you can probably find much higher prices, so it depends on which area you would prefer to invest in Montenegro.
Albania
Albania which is Montenegro’s neighbor to the South is in my opinion one of the best real estate markets to invest in Europe right now. Let’s see why. In the past Albania many times ranked as the poorest country in Europe and after a disastrous Communist Regime that plank the country for decades, Albania also faced even more misery with Nationwide pyramid schemes in the 90s. Now all of that is long gone and Albania is organizing itself to become a dynamic market economy, although problems like corruption still exist in the country. Due to its turbulent past the average income in Albania continues below what it is in most countries in Europe and this reflects into a real estate market with plenty of opportunities.
In Sarandë for example, which is in the south of the country, there are studio flats available for as little as 30 000 Euros. Sarandë is just a short ferry ride from the Greek island of Corfu, where real estate can easily cost twice as much. In the capital Tirana prices per square meter are comparable to other capitals in the Balkans, such as Podgorica in Montenegro and Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Cambodia
Cambodia is a country that you may want to consider for a property investment if you want to focus in Southeast Asia. Cambodia has a striking Advantage compared to most European countries and even many Latin American countries. Its natural population growth only this fact will represent a guaranteed demand for real estate in the main cities throughout the country. While in Europe, even in bigger cities this cannot be guaranteed considering the natural growth rate. Cambodia also is an excellent alternative to Thailand. Thailand is actually a great place, but it is harder to get a residence permit and the real estate prices in most areas are not exactly cheap.
Cambodia as a much less developed country can offer investment opportunities that Thailand had 20 or 30 years ago. There are some pretty modern projects in Cambodia notably in Phnom Penh that are definitely worth checking. The prices per square meter in the Cambodian Capital currently hover around 2400 US dollars for the most Central parts of the city.
Romania
Romania is another option for those looking to invest in real estate in the European Union at a relatively low cost. Although, Romania is a full European Union member it is usually ignored by investors and digital Nomads for a number of reasons. First of all, Romania is still not part of the Schengen free movement area so, whenever you’ll be traveling from Romania to any other European country you will actually have your passport checked. The second reason why Romania is not so attractive is that it doesn’t use the euro as its currency and its currency is also not tied to the euro, so theoretically the Romanian lay is less stable than the Euro. Apart from these reasons, Romania can be an excellent place to invest in real estate. The capital Bucharest, with almost 2 million inhabitants, is one of the cheapest Capitals in Europe with prices per square meter hovering around 2300 dollars in its Central districts. If you are not an EU citizen you can get a residence permit to reside in Romania by opening a company, but it cannot be just any company, it has to have its business plan approved by the Romanian authorities. Other interesting areas to invest in the country are the city of Cluj-Napoca and the coast on the Black Sea.
Georgia
Georgia is another country that is worth checking out if you want to invest in real estate on the cheap. In the past two decades Georgia became a business Hub in the region and one of the best countries in the ease of doing business Rank by the World Bank. Prices overall per square feet and meter are low in Georgia compared to most countries in Europe, as well as many countries in the Middle East.
The price per square meter in the capital Tbilisi is currently around 1 800 dollars, but it is not uncommon to find properties for cheaper prices especially in the outskirts of the city. If you want to live on the seaside, you can also consider the city of Batumi on the Black Sea, there are many apartments available even with a sea view for less than $50.000 dollars. Georgia is also a great place to reside if you want to live with low taxes and depending on your income even tax-free. Georgia is unfortunately a neighbor of Russia which definitely involves a higher level of risk than in countries which are, let’s say, in a better neighborhood.
Turkey
Turkey is a country that could not be out in this list, as it has some very affordable real estate all around the country. Turkey which now is officially named Türkiye, has affordable properties for all types of buyers. Are you looking for a modern condo in a busting area of a large city, or maybe you want a Countryside property, or even a studio by the Sea, you can find all of these in Turkey for a fraction of what it would cost virtually anywhere in European Union and definitely way less than anything similar in the United States. Of course, the cheap properties in Turkey come with a risk and actually turkey has plenty of risk to offer, so it is not a country for the risk adverse. Some of the main risks of turkey are the economic and political risk. The Turkish government is definitely not known for taking good decisions in its monetary policies, this reflects on high inflation and a constant evaluation of the local currency, the Turkish Lira. I would probably consider turkey if you are looking for a real estate for personal use or if you want to buy a property to run a hotel, for example. If you are considering a buy to let investment, you would always have to bear in mind that rents are paid in Lira and as I said, the lira is constantly losing value.
Hungary
Hungary is the last country in our list today and the reason why Hungary is in the list is because it is in a very special situation in terms of its property and Real Estate Market. Hungary is a full European Union member, but unlike other European Union countries surrounding Hungary, the economic and political situation in the country is much riskier than in other countries like Slovakia, Austria or Romania. This reflects in much lower investments in Hungary than in other countries in the region. Because of factors such as corruption and bad monetary policies, the Hungarian currency, the forint, is constantly devaluating. As a final consequence of this, property prices in Hungary are much cheaper than other central European countries such as Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic and they are in even comparable to countries such as Romania and Bulgaria.
But Hungary has a much better location and Budapest is one of the best cities to live in Europe. So, if you want to invest in a central European city with a high quality of life, Budapest might be just the perfect option. But you have to bear in mind that the country is much more volatile than most other countries in European Union.
Prices in the capital Budapest over around 2 500 euros per square meter, if you wander beyond Budapest, you can definitely get much better deals. In some areas of the country, it is not uncommon to find houses for 20.000 or 30.000 thousand dollars. Finally, it is relatively easy to get a residence permit in Hungary by starting a company to manage your real estate, an opportunity which is not available in most EU countries.
Write down in comment section which country would you like to pick to invest in real estate and what kind of real estate you would like to find.
