Real estate: Athens among the best markets in the world – Knight Frank study

According to a study conducted by Knight Frank among the 107 largest cities in the world, Athens real estate market ranks 5th in the worldand house prices in the Greek capital rose by 2.4% in the third quarter of 2023.

Year-on-year price growth in Athens was 12%, compared with 102.7% in Ankara and 77.6% in Istanbul, which took the top two places. However, inflation in Turkey is still at its peak and yesterday the Turkish lira fell to a new all-time low of 29.7060 against the dollar, losing 37% in 2023.

In 3rd place is Dubai, where house prices have increased by 18% per year, and in 4th place, just above Athens, is Zagreb with 14% growth.

According to Knight Frank, the pace of the property recovery in 2024 will be limited because, despite the expected interest rate cuts by central banks later in the year, mortgage costs will remain significantly higher than before the pandemic.

House prices continue to rise around the world despite central banks’ efforts to combat inflation by raising interest rates, Knight Frank analysts say. Average annual price growth is 3.5%, well below the pre-pandemic 10-year average of 3.7%.

Among the 56 markets surveyed, 35 saw year-on-year price increases and 21 saw price declines. Price growth reached 10.9% in the first quarter of 2022, but slowed sharply to 2.2% in the second quarter of this year. The increase in the latest quarter reflects stronger price growth in several markets, including Ireland, Sweden, the UK and the US.

Apartment in Athens – 65,000 euros

In these markets, prices are holding up despite rising costs for mortgage borrowers due to a lack of available properties for sale. Notably, despite the fastest rate increases in history, home prices fell only slightly earlier this year and then continued to rise and are currently 3.5% above their 2022 peak.

Even after adjusting for inflation, real home prices are just 2% below their 2022 peak, despite higher interest rates. The stability of house prices is explained by limited available funds, increasing household savings and high wage growth, the Knight Frank report notes.

Particularly in countries such as the UK, wage growth is outpacing inflation. However, the main concern for markets regarding the sustainability of home prices is the slowdown in the pace of recovery in sales volumes.

Source link