Home sellers in Greece are asking for 25% to over 45% higher prices compared to real market prices

The property market in Greece is not in a particularly good position at the moment. Apartment prices in Greece rose by 13.4% in 2023. In addition to continuing growth, it is also more significant than last year’s 11.9% in 2022, according to central bank data of the Bank of Greece country.

Not only that, but the sellers are asking too high prices for their properties, which in no way correspond to the reality of market prices at the moment.

There is a significant gap between sellers’ expectations and reality when it comes to property transactions in Attica – one of the most desirable areas for property purchases in Greece. This is according to data on sales in 2023 collected by the network of real estate offices RE/MAX Hellas and the Spitogatos Price Index (SPI) of the online classifieds network Spitogatos.gr.

The biggest disparity is found in the southern suburbs, where asking prices are an average of 25% higher than actual sale prices compared to RE/MAX real estate.

If it needs to be specified, the asking price in the ads is 3,664 euros/sq.m., and the concluded deals are for 2,755 euros/sq.m. average.

The discrepancy indicates price inflation, which could lead to a correction, especially if interest in buying from abroad begins to wane.

According to real estate industry sources quoted by Kathimerini, from 2022 onwards, it was evident that there was a surge in seller expectations in the southern suburbs, even for properties that did not offer quality features to justify the asking prices. It is significant that even if the apartment for sale is not close to the beach, not in the immediate vicinity of Elliniko and in need of serious renovation works, the offer prices are very high compared to other parts of Attica.

In a city like Alimos, for example, the offer price already reaches 4,788 euros/sq.m., while according to data from RE/MAX, new buildings in the area in 2023 were sold for 4,000 euros/sq.m. with older properties going for 2,530 euros/sq.m. – 47% difference. In Glyfada, the discrepancy is 12%, with the asking price reaching 4,811 euros/sq.m., and the actual sales at 4,230 euros/sq.m.

In home sales, even in the current high demand environment, there is usually a margin to negotiate, which depending on the area and the individual property can be either negligible or as high as 15%. Therefore, a deviation of 5-10% is considered normal. However, the data show that in the southern suburbs and other areas of Attica, the disparities are much greater.

Another example is the center of Piraeus, where the average offer price is 2,333 euros/sq.m., and sales prices do not exceed 1,950 euros/sq.m. – i.e. by 16.4% lower.

The large increase in offer prices, which has exceeded 30% in the last year, has been fueled by the forced displacement of foreign investors through the “Golden Visa” program.