Plaka and Exarchia top Airbnb chart
The historic center of Athens and the neighborhoods of Exarchia, Koukaki and Neos Cosmos are the areas with the greatest concentration of apartments available for short-term lettings in the Greek capital on Airbnb, according to data compiled by the independent monitoring service Inside Airbnb, which tracks the flow of ads on the online platform.
Data show that there are 681 ads for the area of Plaka and the historic center, while Exarchia (including Neapoli and the area around the Archaeological Museum) ranks second, with 500 units available. Koukaki is third with 343 apartments for letting, which is remarkable given the small size of the area close to the Acropolis.
The emergence of Exarchia as one of the most dynamic spots in the capital for short-term property lettings to tourists is not only due to the characteristics of the area (low prices, proximity to Syntagma Square and other sightseeing destinations etc) but also investment activity in recent months.
Just like the Chinese investor who bought 100 apartments in Exarchia, who utilized them through short-term leasing before selling them to foreign institutional investors, buyers are taking a keen interest in the area, with demand rising while prices remain particularly low, at around 25,000-40,000 euros per flat.
Across Athens there almost are 5,150 ads for apartments on Airbnb, while more are listed on other short-term letting platforms.
A recent study by Grant Thornton for the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels estimated the total number of homes put up for short-term rental at 42,155. Another 21,716 properties bearing the official stamp of the Greek National Tourism Organization are let out as tourism accommodation, taking the total number of houses and apartments up for lease to 63,871.
On an annual basis, the above properties constitute a tourism market of 1.7 billion euros (estimate for 2017), with about half that (860 million euros) concerning the accommodation of foreign visitors – the rest concerns their spending on food, entertainment etc.
