By Nikos Roussanoglou

Home prices continued to slide significantly in cities outside Athens, as Thessaloniki saw an estimated drop of between 7 and 18 percent last year on a yearly basis, according to the conclusions of the annual conference of the Hellenic Valuation Institute (ELIE) conducted in the northern port city last Saturday.

In other Macedonian cities the price decline amounted to 15-20 percent, while the drop since the start of the crisis adds up to about 40 percent. Ioannina has seen an average decline of 25 percent, although in the Epirus capital’s historic center the drop was no more than 15 percent year-on-year.

Thessaly in central Greece observed a smaller reduction in prices, amounting to 14 percent on average, and just 12 percent for newly built homes.

In Larissa the drop came to 25 percent, in Trikala from 9 to 15 percent, in Karditsa from 9 to 18 percent, while Volos has witnessed the greatest drop, from 12 to 33 percent.