Little optimism in property market
Recent government initiatives aimed at rekindling demand in the property market are expected to prove fruitless due to the uncertainty generated by political developments.
According to the vice president of the Association of Athens-Attica Estate Agents, Lefteris Potamianos, “demand in the market will remain anemic, at least until a new government is formed and the economy stabilizes.”
Worse still, if there is a change in the country’s political leadership, it is very likely that new changes will be introduced to property taxation, starting a fresh cycle of uncertainty and postponement in decision making in the housing market. That would see property prices tumble further within 2015.
A series of measures were taken in recent weeks that could have a favorable impact on the market, which in turn would restart activity in the construction sector. They included the change in the origin of wealth statements used for property transactions and the abolition of the capital gains tax for 2015 and 2016.
A recent analysis by chartered surveyors Geoaxis said one key factor that could help property market conditions is an expected rise in financing from the country’s four systemic banks by at least 1 billion euros.
