Realty shows signs of fatigue
The Bank of Greece has already detected the first signs of a slowdown in the housing market, which, as it notes in its Interim Monetary Policy report published on Wednesday, “potentially point to an imminent period of price correction, especially for property uses, features and locations of lower demand.”
This picture is also recorded by real estate industry sources, who state that had it not been for the state’s My Home program to stimulate buying and selling, the picture would have been even worse.
According to estate agents, the housing market is showing signs of fatigue, as large price increases in recent years have started to weigh on domestic demand, discouraging many interested buyers. As stated by Anna Mokakou, head of the New Life Real Estate Agency, “a clear decline in the demand for the purchase of housing, but also in the completion of agreements for the purchase and sale of housing, has been observed.”
However, the above is not reflected – at least not yet – in the course of sales prices. According to the central bank, during this year’s first nine months apartment prices (in nominal terms) increased by 13.9% on an annual basis, against an increase of 11.2% during the corresponding period last year.
