The Athens housing market appears to be stirring after years of stagnation, with a survey of sale prices in Attica showing a 2 per cent annual increase in expected sale prices from January to March compared to the previous year. New apartments of up to seven years show a 2.4 per cent increase in prices, whereas those built up to 15 years ago also saw a rise of 2.2 per cent.
The Geoaxis survey focused on five areas in the capital that reflect a picture of the rest of Athens. These are Holargos, that saw the highest rise at 2.75 per cent, followed by Maroussi at 2.47 per cent, Ambelokipi up 2.4 per cent, Palaio Faliro up 2.35 per cent followed by Peristeri, with a 2.05 per cent increase. Older apartments saw smaller rises of 2.8 per cent in Maroussi, 2.47 per cent in Holargos, 1.92 per cent in Palaio Faliro and Ambelokipi and a smaller increase of 1.85 per cent in Peristeri.
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Geoaxis head Giannis Xylas said “the positive aspects of the market continue to include the constant feeding of demand for the transformation of apartments into short-term rentals, mainly in the center of Athens, as well as for the acquisition of residence permits in the context of the ‘Golden Visa’ program, mostly from Chinese and Turkish citizens.”
Despite the positives, the market is still fragile due to taxation and an oversupply of apartments.