IMF: housing prices in Greece have risen by 85% since 2016

Housing prices in Greece grew by about 85% since 2016, while disposable income increased only by 47%.

This data is provided by International Monetary Fund (IMF) in an analysis of the Greek real estate market prepared using platform data Spitogatos. The result looks predictable and unpleasant: housing looks less and less like a basic need and more and more like an investment asset, which an ordinary Greek approaches like the window of an expensive store: you can look at it, but it’s more difficult to buy.

In the report IMF for Greece It is emphasized that the housing crisis in the country is associated not only with the housing shortage as such. The problem is deeper: the market suffers from serious imbalances between supply and demand, regional price gaps, the growth of short-term rentals and poor correspondence of the existing housing stock to the real capabilities of households.

According to the analysis, in 2025 median housing costs exceeded one-third of household disposable income. Near two out of five households spend more on housing 40% your income. For a country where wages are already not keeping up with prices, this is no longer just “tension in the market.” This is a social squeeze in which people are forced to choose between rent, bills, groceries and a normal life.

Attica, Thessaloniki and tourist areas are falling apart

Data Spitogatosused in the analysis IMFshow strong differences between regions. Attica, Thessaloniki and popular tourist destinations exhibit significantly higher price levels than the rest of Greece. This is where the pressure on buyers and renters is felt especially strongly.

At the same time, formally there is a supply on the market. But it increasingly coincides with what people can actually afford. According to the report, the average time a property spends on the market is approximately eight months for sale and about six months for rent. This does not speak of a healthy balance, but of a strange situation: housing seems to be on sale, but a significant part of it is not suitable for buyers and tenants in terms of price, area or location.

More 55% properties for sale are more expensive 200,000 euros. For most Greek households, this price level remains unaffordable. And this is especially important against the background of the statement of the head Bank of Greece by Yiannis Stourunaraswhich previously directly linked expensive real estate to the demographic crisis. The Athens News has already writtenwhich, according to Sturunaras, the high cost of housing delays the creation of new households and causes young people to postpone the decision to have a family.

Rent: 575 euros throughout the country and 785 euros in Attica

The average asking rent in Greece is around 575 euros per month, and Attica – near 785 euros. For many families and young workers, this is no longer just high rent, but a barrier to independent living.

The problem is compounded by the structure of the housing stock itself. About a third of the properties put up for sale have an area of ​​more than 120 sq. mwhile demand is increasingly shifting towards smaller apartments. IN Attica And Thessaloniki only about 30% apartments available for rent have an area of ​​less than 60 sq. mwhile in other regions this figure reaches approximately 55%.

In other words, the market offers a lot of things that are expensive, large, or not in the right place. And then everyone wonders why young people stay with their parents, families postpone children, and talk about “affordable housing” sounds like an advertising slogan from a parallel reality.

Airbnb increases pressure

A separate block of the report is devoted to short-term rentals. According to IMFthe number of relevant advertisements increased by 240% in the period from 2017 to 2024 and reached approximately 230,000. It’s about 3.5% the entire housing stock of the country.

Analysis that integrates data Spitogatos, INSETE And ΕΛΣΤΑΤshows that a high concentration of short-term rentals is associated with higher housing prices and lower availability of long-term rental properties in high-demand areas. Simply put, an apartment that could become a home for a family or an employee is increasingly turning into a tourism product.

For the owner, this may be rational. For the city – not always. For young families, students, service workers and ordinary renters, this is another blow to housing affordability. Tourism brings money, but if a city gradually loses its inhabitants, it turns not into a successful economy, but into a decoration with a cash register.

Energy-weak houses – another hidden tax

IMF specifically points out the energy inefficiency of the Greek housing stock. The report estimates that Greek homes consume approximately 65% more energy per square meter than Portuguese ones. This means that even after paying the rent or mortgage, the household faces additional strain through heating, cooling and electric bills.

For a country with hot summers, rising tariffs and an old housing stock, this is not a minor technical detail. This is another component of housing poverty: a person may technically have a roof over their head, but pay so much for it that a normal life under that roof becomes increasingly less affordable.

What does the IMF offer?

Based on the results of the analysis IMF offers not one magical solution, but a set of measures. These include reform of shared ownership laws, targeted restrictions on short-term lettings, investment in social and affordable housing, and improving productivity in the construction sector, which is facing labor shortages.

This is an important point: the problem cannot be solved by one subsidy or one cheap mortgage program. If the supply of affordable housing does not grow, if short-term rentals continue to crowd out long-term rentals, if the old stock remains energy-intensive, and construction is stalled, then government assistance turns into an attempt to put out a fire with a glass of water. Symbolic, of course, but useless.

What does this mean for Greece?

The main threat is not only that apartments have become expensive. The main threat is that housing is becoming a demographic and economic drag. If young people cannot move out from their parents, if couples delay having children, if workers cannot live near their place of work, then the country faces not just expensive real estate, but a long-term crisis in the reproduction of society.

This is already visible in connection with the conclusions Sturunarasa: An expensive roof over your head delays the creation of new households, increases the aging of the population and puts pressure on long-term economic growth. The fewer young families there are, the lower the birth rate, the smaller the labor force, the higher the burden on the pension system and the weaker the domestic market. Real estate may rise in price, the schedule may please investors, but the country may lose people, its future and social sustainability.

For Greece, this is especially dangerous because the housing crisis is compounded by low incomes, expensive products, high bills and the economy’s chronic dependence on tourism and real estate. If housing becomes an instrument of income for capital, but ceases to be an affordable space for living, the state will sooner or later face consequences: from demographic failure to personnel shortages in cities, from social irritation to increased political protest.

Editorial comment

Report IMF is unpleasant because it confirms the obvious: the Greek housing market has stopped working for a significant part of the Greeks themselves. Formally, there is a lot of real estate in the country. Formally, there are announcements. Formally, the market is active. But if an apartment costs more than most families can afford, if rent eats up a huge share of income, and young people cannot start an independent life, then this is no longer a housing market. This is a market of exclusion.

The most dangerous thing is that for too long the authorities have perceived rising real estate prices as a sign of economic recovery. Yes, after the crisis years, rising prices looked like a return to “normality.” But normality ended where housing became more accessible to a foreign investor, tourism business and owner of savings than to a working resident of the country.

Greece is facing not just a housing crisis, but a chain reaction: expensive rent delays the formation of families, demographics worsen, cities lose permanent residents, young professionals leave or remain economically dependent, and the state then heroically struggles with the consequences of its own unresolved problems. As usual, first the market is declared a sacred cow, then they are surprised that it trampled the entire yard.

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