No lasting impact on property market from e-auctions
The Bank of Greece estimates that online property auctions will only have a short-term negative impact on the market.
The central bank said in its interim report on Thursday that “despite the fact that the potential mass sale of properties to private investment funds and the full activation of online auctions by credit institutions could exert further pressure on prices, it is estimated that the negative impact will be short-term and concern inferior properties.”
In the long term, the BoG argues that the warming of the market should strengthen demand at its high-standard end, eventually buoying demand across the industry.
However, the report also identifies a number of factors obstructing the recovery of the property sector, led by taxation. According to the BoG, taxation on property ownership in 2016 exceeded 2 percent of gross domestic product, while it never topped 0.5-0.6 percent before 2010. Furthermore, the ongoing effort to adjust taxable property rates – known as “objective values” – so that they match market prices will have to be accompanied by a gradual decline of property tax rates and a simultaneous expansion of the tax base.
