Rental rates continue their slide across the country
The rate of the drop in rents across the country increased in the January-September period according to data from the Hellenic Statistical Authority and the Bank of Greece, which concur with the estate agencies’ conclusions.
Rents started falling at a faster clip after 2012, when the annual rate of decline came to 2.1 percent. In 2013 it reached 6.8 percent and this year it came to 8.1 percent in the first nine months compared with a year earlier.
The only positive development has been the slowdown in the slide during the third quarter of this year, when rents shrank by an average 6.6 percent on an annual basis. A year earlier the decline had totaled 7.7 percent year-on-year.
Residential rents will continue to fall as long as the pressure on household incomes keeps up and purchasing power diminishes. Estate agents stress that the biggest decline is being observed in large properties in upmarket areas as they are facing serious difficulties in securing tenants. Yet even the most attractive houses and apartments in terms of rates are finding it hard to attract solvent tenants due to the high tax obligations and unemployment in Greece.
