Measures buoyed real estate
The government’s support measures for the economy and for households in the face of the pandemic played a key role in maintaining the rising course of property sale prices in Greece last year, rating agency DBRS Morningstar says in a report.
The Canadian-based company argues that the measures for containing the economic impact of the pandemic have softened the blow on the property market, as they buoyed household and corporate incomes.
This has led to a remarkable resilience of property prices, which posted a year-on-year increase of 4.6% in 2020, according to provisional data provided by the Bank of Greece. The increase has continued at a rate of 3.3% in the first quarter of this year. Construction activity grew 8% in 2020 and soared by 13.7% year-on-year over the January-March 2021 period.
According to DBRS Morningstar, another reason a price drop was averted last year was the perception that the pandemic restrictions – such as travel bans – would be short-lived and high demand from abroad would be restored.
The 2020 performance is seen as particularly notable given the absence of the main source of demand, i.e. buyers from abroad, with a 40% drop in foreign direct investments last year.
