In Greece’s urban areas, house prices rose by 9.32% during the year to Q3 2019, far higher than the previous year’s 2.35% growth and the highest annual increase in house prices since Q4 2006, according to the Bank of Greece. When adjusted for inflation, house prices increased by 9.39%. Quarter-on-quarter, house prices in urban areas were up 2.23% in Q3 2019 (3.46% in real terms)

This sharp improvement was also seen in the major cities:

• Athens led with an annual house price increase of 11.91% in Q3 2019 (11.99% in real terms), the capital’s best performance since Q2 2006. During the latest quarter, house prices rose by 2.21% (3.43% in real terms).
• In Thessaloniki, the country’s second largest city, house prices rose by 8.52% (8.59% in real terms) y-o-y in Q3 2019, a sharp improvement from last year’s 1.32% annual rise - the highest growth since Q2 2007. Quarter-on-quarter, prices increased by 0.7% (1.9% in real terms) in Q3 2019.
• In other cities (excluding Athens and Thessaloniki), house prices rose 6.87% (6.94% in real terms) during the year to Q3 2019, an improvement from y-o-y rise of 0.8% a year earlier. During the latest quarter, prices increased 2.5% (3.7% in real terms) in Q3 2019.

Greek residential property prices fell 40.8% (-45.1% in real terms) from 2008 to 2018.

Demand is now surging, with residential property transfers in Athens rising by double-digit figures in the past four years. Construction permits soared 24.5% to 11,744 units during the first nine months of 2019, following annual rises of 10.1% in 2018 and 9% in 2017, according to the Hellenic Statistical Authority, though the total remains far below the 70,000 to 80,000 permits issued annually from 2004 to 2007.