According to ASK's current survey data for 2024, 95.0% of households in Kosovo are the legal owners of the house they live in. While the rate of those who own a house with a mortgage is 0.0%, the rate of those who officially pay rent at the market rate is only 1.7%. The remaining 3.3% are housed in discounted (0.1%) or completely free (3.2%) housing.
These data show that Kosovo has a traditional property market based on cash power or family (and diaspora) support, bypassing the financial system (mortgage).
Growth in the Rental Market from 2018 to 2024
The real opportunity for investors lies in the pace of change in the market. In 2018, the rate of people paying rent at market prices in Kosovo was only 0.5%. This rate increasing to 1.7% by 2024 means a growth of 340% in itself, although it may seem small in total.
Similarly, "free housing" (young people probably living in second homes belonging to family members or unregistered contracts) reached 3.2% in 2024, while it was 1.3% in 2018. The increase in housing prices and the lack of bank financing are gradually pushing the younger generation and new immigrants to the city into the culture of "tenancy" or "alternative housing".
The free housing rate of 3.2% refers to the housing stock that the Kosovo diaspora (Kosovars living in Europe) purchased in the country and either remained vacant for most of the year or allocated to their relatives. This shows that there is a huge B2C service market for companies offering "property management" and daily/monthly rental services (Airbnb etc.) that will bring the idle properties of the diaspora into the economy.