Winter holiday homes’ values remain in deep freeze
With the real estate market due for a correction after significant price hikes, according to real estate experts and the Bank of Greece, there is a market segment, winter holiday homes, which never rebounded from the financial crisis.
Located in mountainous areas, preferably near ski resorts, these houses are selling for less than half the prices that they commanded in pre-crisis 2008. Real estate professionals tell Kathimerini that demand is so weak that even asking prices below the cost of construction do not find takers.
According to the latest annual data compiled by Geoaxis Property & Valuation Services, prices of winter holiday homes in the most popular destinations, such as Arachova, Karpenissi and Trikala (the mountain village near Corinth, not the cityin central Greece), actually stabilized or rose slightly in 2023, but below the rate of inflation. By comparison, real estate prices in places like Attica have recovered from the crisis lows and are at or above 2008 levels, says Geoaxis founder and owner Yiannis Xylas. The rebound has been even stronger in many other areas, he says.
Xylas explains that winter holiday destinations have not followed the big gains, sometimes to the point of saturation, in occupancy rates seen by summer holiday spots. Greece has a relatively short winter season, anyway, which is being further affected by the climate crisis. Add to that high borrowing rates and rising energy and construction costs, and the sector feels marginalized compared to real estate overall. Also, investment in winter holiday properties is almost exclusively a domestic affair, with foreign investors showing scant interest.
“Compared to the 2008 historical highs, (winter holiday) property values are less than half of what they were,” says Xylas.
In Karpenissi, central Greece, the relevant properties are offered at €1,008 per square meter, compared to €2,308/sq.m. in 2008, a decline of 56%. At Trikala, in the Corinth regional unit, prices average €1,097/sq.m., down 51% from 2008’s €2,250/sq.m. Arachova is the least affected, but that is relative: the average selling price is €1,594/sq.m. from €3,000 in 2008.
High interest rates also lead prospective buyers to adopt a wait-and-see attitude. And the squeeze in disposable incomes caused by inflation, makes the numbers of prospective buyers shrink even further.
