Real Estate: Old Houses in Greece

In 2021, the share of private homes in Greece was 70.3%, which is significantly different from the level of 2009, when this figure reached 77.2%. Interestingly, only 16 out of 100 houses were built after 2000, which suggests that most buildings in the country are quite old.

In 2009, shortly before Greece found itself at the epicenter of the crisis and the memorandums, the level of ownership was particularly high. Almost 8 out of 10 households, or 77.2%, lived in private homes. However, in 2021, this share dropped significantly, reaching 70.3%. Compared to 2005, when the figure was 84.6%, this is a drop of 14.3 percentage points.

Many families are abandoning their own homes and preferring to rent, as confirmed by the 2021 census. Half of all houses in Greece are multi-apartment buildings, and almost all of them were built before 2000.

According to the 2021 Census, 793,884 houses were registered as vacant, not counting summer cottages and second homes. Of these 255,300 are located in Attica. However, according to the data from tax returns and form E2,The number of available properties is about 600 thousand.

Government intends to bring these homes back onto the market and into long-term rentals with the help of the announced package of measuresincluding interest-free loans, subsidies and tax breaks for property owners. Data ELSTAT on housing conditions in Greece contain the following information:

• Most homes, 68%, 4,485,795 of 6,596,758, were built between 1961 and 2000.
• 15.5% of homes, 1,022,497, were built before 1961.
• Only 16.5% were built after 2001, meaning nearly 16 out of 100 homes are less than 25 years old.
• Owner occupancy rates are 70.3% and 65.2% in Attica.
• Of the 6,596,758 dwellings, 4,319,144 are occupied, 857,014 are declared holiday homes, 626,716 are secondary and 793,884 remain vacant.
• 49.6% of all buildings are multi-apartment buildings, with the vast majority of them located in city centers.
• 34.5% of homes were listed as single-family and 15.4% as semi-detached.
• Almost 7 in 10 private homes, or 68.7%, have cooling systems, and 96.2% have heating systems. Of these, 67.6% use central heating, and 28.6% use other systems.
• 47.2% of households have 1 car, 19.1% have 2 cars, 3.3% have 3 or more cars, and 30.4% do not have a car.
• 62.8% of households do not have a parking space, 28.1% have one parking space, 7.4% have two parking spaces, and 1.7% have three or more.

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