2017 has not been a good year for Greece’s housing market. In the third quarter of the year, property prices fell by 0.6, continuing a trend that had previously seen a decline of 1.2 percent in the second quarter. This, despite the opposite trend being the norm in the European Union, where prices were annually increasing by 4.6 percent – particularly in the Eurozone countries, there’s a 4.1 percent rise. 

This trend was confirmed in a survey conducted by property research company Global Property Guide, which showed that Greece ranked 41st of 46 markets in the world, with the country being one of just eight where prices have continued to drop. The drop amounted to 0.7 percent. Property prices have been falling since the third quarter of 2008, when the first signs of the Global Financial Crisis hit Greece. In the nine years that passed, house prices have recorded an average drop of 42.8 percent in total.

According to analysts, this is to be averted and prices are expected to start rising again, from the fourth quarter of 2012 and onwards, mostly thanks to the increase of demand, due to tourism. Houses are on demand as holiday homes and for short-term letting via online platforms, such as airbnb.