Fewer Greeks own their home

The rate of home ownership in Greece is decreasing. The latest official figures from Eurostat put the figure at 72.8%, down three percentage points compared to 2013, and moving closer to the EU average, which now stands at 69.1%.

If one considers that many privately owned residential properties are burdened with a mortgage, then it follows that four out of 10 are exposed to either high rent or expensive housing due to the increase in interest rates.

It is clear that Greeks’ advantage when comparing their income and property situation in relation to that of the rest of Europe is losing its strength year after year, which means that more and more people are exposed to the high monthly payments for the coverage of their housing needs. 

The problem is that the outlook shows the downtrend will continue. With property prices rising over the last five years at five times the rate of incomes, and borrowing costs increasing by more than 30% in real terms, renting seems to be the only realistic solution for a rising number of people.

The latest available statistics from Eurostat concern 2022 and reflect a further convergence (downwards) of Greece with the rest of Europe. Italy, for example, which until 2018 had lower rates than Greece, has now moved ahead with 74.3%. The European south now shows higher home ownership rates: Portugal is at 78%, Spain at 76% and only France shows a lower rate of 64%. As for the Balkan countries, they maintain the very high rates of 80-90%, which Greece also had several decades ago.

Of the property owners (72.8% of the total), 11% have mortgaged their property for a loan. This rate has been continuously decreasing since 2017 (it was then at 15.7%), which is attributed to the country’s multi-year economic crisis. For the entire 10-year period from 2010 to 2020, very few mortgages were granted, while it is now 18-20 years since the previous boom of the real estate market, which means that the repayment of the mortgages granted then has already begun.