Greece builds the least of all in the EU: 1 new housing per 1,000 inhabitants

Greece ranks last in EU in terms of housing construction rates: only one new apartment per 1,000 residents. The rental market is under record pressure. Rents in Athens have increased by 45% since 2018more than 700,000 houses remain empty, and Airbnb is absorbing a significant portion of the available fund.

The Greek real estate market is showing alarming indicators: according to Blupeak Estate Analyticsthe country ranks last in the European Union for new housing construction, with just one new apartment per 1,000 inhabitants. This is the lowest level in the EU and a key factor in soaring prices and rents.

Rent in Athens since 2018 has grown by 45%with a significant portion of the housing stock going into short-term rentals, reducing the availability of long-term housing. At the same time more 700.000 houses in the country remain empty or unused due to bureaucratic, legal or tax obstacles.

The lack of affordable housing particularly affects young people and low-income families, but increasingly affects the middle class, which faces ever-increasing housing costs.

European context: rising prices faster than incomes

According to Eurostat (2025)housing prices in the European Union increased by approximately 60% since 2010, and rent – at 28%. In some capitals – Dublin, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Warsaw — growth exceeds 100%. As a result, housing is becoming a key social problem in Europe, affecting both vulnerable groups and the middle class.

In Greece, the situation is complicated by a decade of economic recession, low investment in new construction and a sharp increase in demand after 2017. From 2017 to 2024, housing prices in the country increased by more than 50%and in Athens, Thessaloniki and Crete the growth exceeds 70%.

Crisis of demand and insufficient development

Supply in the rental market is shrinking as a significant portion of apartments are converted into short-term rentals or sit empty. Bureaucracy, lack of incentives, complex tax mechanisms and fragmented government databases make the industry extremely difficult to manage.

Greece records the highest rental cost to income ratio in the EU: one of three tenants spends more than 40% of income on housing. This is almost three times the European average.

How Europe is reacting

European countries are actively trying to mitigate the crisis through regulation:

• France: the Encadrement des Loyers system limits rental growth; in Paris the decline reached 13%.
• Germany: the Mietpreisbremse mechanism curbs sharp increases in rental costs.
• Spain: The Ley de Vivienda law and the IRAV index limit growth to 2.2% and finance the construction of 184,000 new homes.
• Netherlands: The point system links the rental price to quality, location and infrastructure.
• Portugal: investments of 2 billion euros in 33,000 social real estate properties.
• Austria (Vienna): 43% of housing is social or non-profit, which keeps prices 30% below market.

The Greek problem: lack of data and coordination

The study emphasizes that the housing crisis in Greece is systemic: the key problem is the lack of a unified database on housing, land plots and real estate use. Information is scattered between real estate registermunicipalities and ΑΑΔΕand no one organ has the complete picture.

As a result, the state makes decisions virtually “blindly”, without real data on needs, empty buildings or opportunities for reconstruction. The lack of a unified mapping and monitoring mechanism results in delays, inefficiencies and wasted resources.

Experts believe that until a nationwide digital real estate registry is created, any reforms will face limited effectiveness, and the housing problem will only get worse.

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