A protracted downturn in Greece's residential property market slowed markedly in the final quarter of 2017, central bank data showed on Thursday, with prices beginning to respond to a recovering economy. Property accounts for a large chunk of household wealth in Greece, which has one of the highest home ownership rates in Europe - 80 percent versus a European Union average of 70 percent, according to the European Mortgage Federation.
Apartment prices fell by 0.3 percent in the last three months of 2017 from a year earlier, Bank of Greece data showed, decelerating from a 1.9 percent decline in last year's first quarter. In all 2017, prices slid 1.0 percent from a year earlier, the data showed. That took the cumulative fall since 2008, when the country's protracted recession began, to 42 percent.
The market has been hit by property taxes imposed to plug budget deficits, a tight credit market and a jobless rate still hovering above 20 percent - the highest in the 19-nation euro zone. Apart from their undercutting household wealth, falling property prices also affect collateral values on banks' outstanding real estate loans.
The price slide has gradually eased from 10.8 percent in 2013 to 2.4 percent in 2016 and 1.0 percent last year, with economists expecting prices to level out soon. "It was the smallest price drop in the last nine years," said National Bank economist Nikos Magginas. "Clearly prices are in a stabilisation phase and it is positive to see the property market responding to the economy's improvement, albeit slowly." Greece's economic prospects improved after it signed up to a third bailout package worth up to 86 billion euros ($107.3 billion) three years ago.
Comments
Comments are closed.