Home rental costs 40 pct less since 2011

The price of rentals has declined considerably since the start of the financial crisis across all categories, with house rents costing an average of 40 percent less than in 2011, when the drop began.

This decline has all but offset the rate growth recorded over the 11-year period from 2000 to 2011, estimated at 43 percent on average.

The drop is even bigger in Attica, where, according to data collected by estate agents, rates have fallen by 7 to 8 percent in the last 12 months alone, despite an increase in demand for rented property.

In Athens city center, rates for apartments have dropped by 50 percent or more since 2011, as this mostly concerns older flats covering a surface of 60-70 square meters. This means that a one-bedroom flat will set a renter back by 150-200 euros a month, depending on the area and the condition of the property.

Sector professionals stress that as long as citizens’ purchasing power declines, rental rates will continue to shrink. Most landlords, they say, would rather shave their asking price to ensure they will at least collect the rent due than insist on a higher rate they may never collect.

Alpha Bank, however, reports a slowdown in the decline of rental rates in the second quarter of 2015.