Investment in housing still falling
A steep drop in housing investment in Greece over recent years is expected to continue in 2011, though at a more moderate pace, with a rebound in credit growth also on the cards, according to Alpha Bank. The bank said in a report published yesterday that investment in housing in 2011 is seen as dropping a further 12.5 percent after falling 22 percent in 2010, 21.7 percent in 2009 and 29.1 percent in 2008. «Housing investment has fallen to 6.6 billion euros in 2010 from 14.6 billion euros in 2007 and is expected to fall still further, to as low as 5.8 billion in 2011,» it said. Regarding loan growth, Alpha Bank forecast credit expansion to the private sector as decelerating to almost zero percent by the end of 2010 ahead of a 2 percent growth rate forecast for 2011.
