IMF’s ‘Global Housing Watch’ says that a typical upscale housing unit of 100 m2 in Greece was only slightly out of reach of average household incomes, but were much more affordable than in places like Belgium, Canada, Australia or the UK.
Greece recorded the second biggest decline in real estate prices in the world in the fourth quarter of 2013, the International Monetary Fund said on Thursday.
In a report called ‘Global Housing Watch’, the IMF said the biggest decline worldwide was in India (-9.1 per cent), followed by Greece (-7.02 per cent), Italy (-6.54 per cent), Cyprus (-6.48 per cent) and Croatia (-6.35 per cent).
On the other hand, the Philippines (10.56 per cent), Hong Kong (10.25 per cent), New Zealand (9.1 per cent), China (9.1 per cent) and Colombia (8.1 per cent) saw their real estate prices increase in the same period.
The report said that a typical upscale housing unit of 100 m2 was only slightly out of reach of average household incomes, but was much more affordable than in places like Belgium, Canada, Australia or the UK.
The report also found that the house price-to-rent ratio in Greece was -16.3 per cent below the average. In other words, it makes more sense to buy a home than to rent it. In Canada, on the other hand, the current ratio is about 86.7 per cent, meaning it makes the most sense to rent.
Source: enetenglish, ana-mpa