Decreasing but at significantly lower rates are the prices of apartments in the third quarter of 2017, according to the official data of the Bank of Greece.

The fall in the third quarter is marginal, below 1%, namely 0,6% (in nominal terms) compared to the corresponding 2016 period, which seems to confirm estimates of market executives for stabilization from next year. According to the analysts of the Bank of Greece, based on data gathered by the credit institutions, the fall in prices in the third quarter of 2017 compared to the corresponding quarter of 2016 was 0,5% for the new apartments, i.e. up to 5-years-old and 0,7% for the old ones, i.e. age over 5 years. On the basis of the revised data, the average annual rate of decline for 2016 for “new” and “old” flats was 3,0% and 1,9% respectively.

Note that these figures include the banks’ estimates of the residential properties current market value, as well as information on their quality characteristics.

The number of estimates already announced by the Bank of Greece (by the end of October 2017) totaled 692,8 thousand (66,1% apartments, 19,2% houses, 6,1% maisonettes, 6,1% plots and 2,5% other properties).

The Bank also refers to the revised figures up to the first half of 2017: In the first two trimesters of 2017, the decrease stood at 1,7% and 1,2% respectively, while for the whole of 2016, apartment prices declined at an average annual rate of 2,4%.

As far as the prices of apartments by geographical area show, the decrease of apartment prices in the third quarter of 2017 compared to the corresponding quarter of 2016 was 0,4% in Athens, 0,7% in Thessaloniki, 1% in other major cities and 0,5% in other areas of the country.

Based on the revised data, for 2016 the decline in apartment prices in the same areas compared to 2015 was 1,8%, 3,5%, 2,3% and 3,0% respectively.

Finally, for all the urban areas of the country, in the third quarter of 2017 the prices of apartments decreased by 0,7% compared to the third quarter of 2016, while, on the basis of revised data for 2016 the average annual reduction was 2,4%.

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