Short-term rentals set to soar
Local market is this year projected to exceed the turnover recorded before the pandemic
The short-term property rentals market is expected to see its turnover in Greece top 1.4 billion euros this year, beating the figures achieved in 2019 in yet another sign of market recovery from the pandemic.
According to a presentation by Martha Wilson, AirDNA’s chief researcher for the Greek market, at the 4th annual BnB Greece Conference, the country had already covered 94.9% of the 2019 figures from last year, reaching €1.33 billion, from €790 million in 2020.
Wilson explained that the prospects of the Greek short-term rentals market are the best in Europe because bookings made by March 1 for the summer season were 232% higher than last year. Greece is followed by Portugal (196%), Croatia (151%), Italy (117%) and Spain (98%).
Detailed figures show a 306% increase in bookings for Crete and a 302% rise in the Dodecanese, while Athens has seen 248% growth, ahead of the Cyclades (up 233%) and the Ionian islands (up 230%).
There is also a significant increase in the cost per overnight stay, peaking on the Sporades islands with 26%. In the Peloponnese rates have grown 19% and in Athens 12%. In contrast, the Cyclades are showing a small drop from last year. Wilson underscores that these figures are provisional and may well change with the approach of summer – the period when Greece records 60% of its annual demand.
The Greek market has already shown it is faring better than in 2019: In February bookings were 28% higher than three years earlier, outperforming the European average growth of 21% and confirming the local trend set since last October. In those five months (October 2021 – February 2022) Greece has steadily outpaced the European mean rate of growth compared to three years earlier, posting an 11.7% advance against 2.6% across Europe.
The expansion in prices is attributed to the decline in supply. In February revenues from short-term leasing were 100% higher than in the same month in 2019, while in January the rise had come to 120%.
