New objective values to soar outside Athens

The process of bringing Greece’s taxable property rates (known as objective values) in line with actual market prices will lead to a considerable hike of between 20 and 40 percent for the vast majority of cities and regions outside the capital, according to proposals being submitted by surveyors.

That means the government will face politically tough decisions, as in some cases, such as Crete, the surveyors’ recommendations are pointing to increases in objective values of as much as 100 percent.

Surveyors were given an extension to Thursday for submitting their proposals, but so far their input has been a mix of hikes and reductions for Athens. This constitutes another problem for the government, as low-rate areas such as Perama and Keratsini in Piraeus will see rate increases, while the pricey northern suburbs should experience a decline. Small rate increases have been proposed for mid-market areas such as Maroussi and Vrilissia, compared to the last objective value review in 2016.

However, areas in Greece with very low rates, such as the Cycladic islands, will be subject to hikes of up to 40 percent, while on mainland Greece the rate rise will come up to 30 percent. The rise of the short-term rental market has played a decisive role in the increase of market rates.