ECONOMY

House price decline accelerates

The decline in Greek house prices accelerated in the third quarter as demand for property weakened amid rising unemployment.

Prices fell 12 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, including a drop of 12 percent in the capital Athens and 11 percent in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, the Bank of Greece said on Friday in an e-mailed report.

The third-quarter decline followed a 10 percent drop in the second quarter and 9 percent in the first three months of the year, according to revised data published by the bank.

The number of property transactions involving loans from financial institutions fell to 4,948 in the quarter from 6,356 in the previous three months and 9,641 in the same period of 2011, according to the report. That was down 22 percent on the quarter and 49 percent on the year.

[Bloomberg]

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