Property in Greece is still (relatively) cheap

• 29 March, 25

Residential prices in Greece have increased only 4.2% in 15 years, due to the economic crisis

The Greek real estate market has hardly grown in terms of house sale prices over the last 15 years, so it is in one of the last positions in the relevant ranking of countries with the highest increases.

Based on data from Global Property Guide, in the period 2009-2024, the cumulative increase in residential property prices in the Greek market is just 4.22%, while in the majority of other European and Mediterranean countries, the increases are particularly large. For example, in Israel the hike in the last 15 years is approaching 150%, while in Portugal it is 140%. In countries from which Greece attracts buyers, such as Germany and the United Kingdom, housing prices in the last 15 years have grown 77% and 65% respectively. This also explains why Greece is still considered a cheap country compared to other Southern European countries.

The reason for this is the economic crisis that intervened and affected the housing market in terms of demand during the 2010-2015 period. It was the first period of significant price reductions in the Greek housing market, as, based on data from the Bank of Greece, the average decline reached 45%, while it exceeded 50% in the large urban centers of Attica and Thessaloniki. Then, from 2017 onward, there was a strong recovery in prices, resulting in the losses being offset and the Greek market essentially returning to the price level of 2009, although in Attica and Thessaloniki prices are now estimated to be significantly higher.

It is characteristic that, based on data from Global Property Guide, over the last five years Greece has been in 18th place, based on the rate of increase in sales prices, with a total increase of 56%.

A similar picture is presented by the markets of Spain and Cyprus, where housing prices followed a similar course to Greece. That is, they were declining during the first years of the previous decade, as a result of the respective crises in these countries, only to gradually begin to recover in recent years. In Cyprus the increase over the last five years reaches 25% and in Spain 17.26%.

Cre: ekathimerini