ECONOMY

Plots of land in Attica see prices recover after a decade of decline

Plots of land in Attica see prices recover after a decade of decline

Following the improvement seen in Greece’s residential property market, plots of land have also started enjoying a price recovery, according to a survey by Geoaxis Property & Valuation Services.

Geoaxis data concerning the second quarter of the year show that plots in Attica have recorded their first yearly increase in prices since 2009. In certain areas of the capital, including Maroussi, Peristeri, Holargos, Palaio Faliro and Ambelokipi, prices grew by 2.27 percent on average from 2018.

The biggest annual increase was seen in the northern suburb of Maroussi, where the average rate came to 660 euros per square meter. Ambelokipi followed with an increase of 2.2 percent to 1,805 euros/sq.m., while in Holargos the rise reached 2.15 percent and the mean rate in Q2 2019 stood at 935 euros/sq.m.

In Palaio Faliro the average rate came to 1,190 euros/sq.m., up 1.7 percent on last year, and in Peristeri it was 705 euros/sq.m., bettering last year’s rates by 1.55 percent.

Giannis Xylas, head of Geoaxis and the RICS Hellas/Valuation Professional Group (VPG), says in his analysis that “builders are slowly beginning to obtain some funds and are investing them in the residential plots market, resulting in both construction activity and transactions recording a slightly upward trend. The picture in the southern suburbs [of Athens] is clearly more encouraging than in the northern suburbs,” he writes.

He adds that new buildings have gradually started to go up since early 2018, mainly in areas with buyers of medium-level purchasing power, such as Palaio Faliro and Aghia Paraskevi. In those districts plots were purchased during the crisis years at low prices and the Single Property Tax (ENFIA) due is not prohibitive for the buyer/owner.

Another survey by the Association of Agents and Chartered Surveyors of Greece, based on the Independent Authority for Public Revenue’s transactions database, showed that 3,839 plot sales were recorded across Greece in 2018, after 2,586 in 2017 (excluding January and February 2017), while 923 plot transactions were recorded around the country in the first few months of this year. In the last couple of years plot sales have accounted for 12.23 percent of all property transactions.

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