Real Estate: Greece's Cheapest City

In the center of Athens, real estate is sold at a price 168.8% higher than in the outskirts. Before the economic crisis, housing prices were indeed more moderate, but the average deviation did not exceed 20-25%.

The reason is obvious and concerns foreign investors, who have triggered an upward trend in housing prices, mainly in Attica.

Taking into account the impact of short-term rentals and the Golden Visa program on the real estate market, in just two years (2022-2023) more than 6 billion euros came into Greece, of which more than 85% went to Attica, and only the “remainder” went to places located in tourist destinations on the periphery.

This imbalance was reflected in the sale and rental prices of houses. Non-tourist areas lag significantly behind Athens and Thessaloniki in terms of pricing policy, although even there the pace of prices has increased somewhat in recent years. Perhaps this fact also works in favor of decentralization, encouraging some residents of the two large cities to move to other areas where the cost of living is clearly lower.

Increasing the number of jobs in the periphery should be one of the priorities of the state: on the one hand to relieve the congestion of large urban regions, especially Attica, and on the other to solve the housing crisis that threatens social cohesion.

Chania, according to Spitogatos, is the only city that is more expensive in terms of real estate (4.5%) than Athens.

Lamia is currently the cheapest major city in the country, with house sales prices 168.8% lower than those in central Athens. According to Spitogatos.gr, the average asking price is 866 euros/sq.m. compared to 2,327 euros/sq.m., the corresponding price in central Athens for the same period, i.e. 63% cheaper.

It is characteristic that for the money that you can buy an apartment of 100 sq.m. in Athens, a citizen can purchase almost three (!) apartments of 100 sq.m. everyone in the city of Lamia.

Next up is the city. Komotini, where, despite the presence of a university, prices have dropped significantly compared to previous years. In particular, the average sales price is 957 euros/sq.m., making housing on average about 59% cheaper than in Athens. Tripoli closes the top threewhere the cost of purchasing a house does not exceed 1023 euros/sq.m. on average (56% cheaper than in Athens).

However Chania (Crete) is an exception, as it is considered the most expensive city in the country, surpassing even the center of Athens. The average asking price is 2,436 euros/sq.m., which is 4.5% higher than the corresponding price in the capital.

According to market sources, Chania is a special casewhere, on the one hand, there is a very high demand for short-term rental housing in the period from the end of May to the end of September, on the other hand, there is also a very high demand for housing from students. In other words, this is a city where investors can count on significant profitscausing prices to jump.

At the same time, the number of new buildings being constructed is insufficient to meet demand, which has resulted in a very significant increase in prices.

Respectively, second most expensive city in the regionexcluding Thessaloniki, where prices are only 5.5% of Athens, is Rhodes. Both Chania and Rhodes are subject to the same “forces” that push prices up, i.e. high demand due to tourism, a significant student population due to the location of the departments of the University of the Aegean, and a small supply of properties for sale. Thus, the average asking price for a property is now 1800 euros/sq.m.

Even Situated near Athens, Chalkida is a particularly attractive city for those working in the northern suburbs.. An employee who today needs 300,000 euros to buy an old apartment with an area of ​​100 sq.m., for example in Maroussi, can buy a house with an area of ​​100 sq.m. in Chalkida. for only 130,000 euros. Considering that many companies now offer remote work with a hybrid model of office visits, This option seems particularly attractive. The price difference between Chalkida and the center of Athens reaches 74.5%.

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