Housing the Greek way: Greekonomics author breaks down the myths about “rapid growth” and renting

DW publishes a report on whether the Greek state is ready to “break an egg” for a solution housing crisis.

Economist Cosmas Marinakiscreator Greekonomicsrefutes the thesis that explosive growth in rents and housing prices is a natural consequence of a “rapidly growing economy.”

For residents Athens and not only the era when renting or buying an apartment was achievable has turned into a memory. Thousands are unsuccessfully searching for affordable housing, and those paying rent are increasingly unable to keep up with the costs. According to Eurostat (autumn 2024), 17.7% Greek tenants were unable to pay on time over the past year – highest in EU.

The golden visa policy is exacerbating the housing crisis in the long run. Image: Dragoslav Dedovich/DW

Prices are rising faster than incomes

According to ELSTATin 2018–2023 rent increased to +52.1%. Only from May 2024 to May 2025 – more +10.9%. At the same time, income is “stuck”: as he emphasizes MarinakisIt is the gap between slowly rising wages, inflation and accelerating housing prices that makes the crisis particularly acute.

IN Joint Employment Report 2025 European Commission records that the share of families with excessive housing load in Greece in 2023 reached 28.5% (EU average – 8.8%). According to EurostatGreeks spend on average on rent and related expenses 35.2% income is an EU record.

Purchasing as an unattainable goal

Cerved Property Services together with University of Athens And University of Macedonia estimate: to buy 60 m² in Athens “as quickly as possible”, the average wage earner would have to save All income 12 years in a row. From 2018 to 2023, the average salary increased by +17%but in 2017–2024 housing prices increased by +71% (Alpha Bank).

Why the Greek case is special

According to Marinakis“rapid growth” is “100% narrative” The 5.9% surge is associated with a post-Covid rebound; then the economy moves at the level 2.3–2.6% — this is not enough to explain the scale of the crisis. Additional Driver – Policy “Golden visas”: While injecting liquidity in the short term, it shifts supply sideways in the long term luxury projects and crowds out affordable housing for locals.

According to Professor Cosmas Marinakis, the growth rate does not justify the scale of the housing crisis. Image: Ang Tuan Kiat

Research OPA (OEP/OPA – Оικονομικό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών) indicate: developers are switching to premium properties under foreign capital, there are few available rental apartments, competition for “affordable” meters is growing, and rents and prices continue to climb.

What doesn’t work and what is needed

Among the government measures Marinakis evaluates positively “Ανακαινίζω-Νοικιάζω“as a way to return dormant apartments to the market. But the return of one month’s rent every fall, he said, warms up prices: seeing additional liquidity, owners raise rates.

K. Mitsotakis argues that the housing crisis is an integral part of a rapidly growing economy. Image: Alexandros Avramidis/REUTERS

The expert’s conclusion is straightforward: “The Greek housing crisis is also income crisis” Solutions are needed outside the narrow real estate sector: increasing productivity and wages, accelerating construction, expanding the stock of affordable housing, revising incentives for investment instruments like Golden Visa.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis at DEF called for “looking at both sides” of the equation. Most citizens are already doing this: they see both the difficult situation of tenants and the benefits of owners. Without a systemic policy, the risk is obvious: housing turns into luxury item.

Source: **DW**

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