Greek apartment prices near 2007 levels

Apartment prices are rising, and they have already returned to 2011 levels and are now approaching the “all-time high” of 2007 covering a large part of the losses recorded during the memoranda period.

Investments in real estate are also moving upwards – despite the jump in money cost and the prices of building materials. In 2022, investments in real estate were limited to 3.4 billion euros representing only 12% of the total investments of the previous year, according to the official figures of the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT).

In 2007 apartment prices recorded an all-time high not only in terms of prices but also in terms of investments – residential investments amounted to 25.2 billion euros and represented over 41.5% of the total amount of investments. So far, the real estate price rally seems to be fueled by the limited supply of new properties but also by the increase in the prices of building materials that “push” prices up.

It now remains to be seen whether the increase in the cost of money (which also means a gradual restriction of new lending) will stop (and when) the upward trend of real estate prices.

The increases recorded in the first quarter in all real estate categories were the highest over the last years. The central index for the entire country was 14.5%. In old properties over 5 years old, the percentage of increase reached 15.6%, while in newly built properties it was 12.8%. The annual rate of change in apartment prices was 16.5% in Athens, 16.1% in Thessaloniki, 13.1% in the other major cities and 10.6% in the rest of the country.