The government has decided to freeze property values, leaving in the drawer the objections of 12 municipalities that had asked for “fire” price reductions. Although the requests had been accepted by the Ministry of National Economy and Finance, the process did not proceed and all indications are that the overall review is being tabled for 2027. Thus, thousands of property owners who were waiting for a breather from the property value “haircut” will continue to be taxed at the current rate, while commercial market prices are running at double-digit rates.

As of January 2023, 169 municipalitieshad filed appeals seeking reductions of up to 50% or a return to 2018 levels. However, only 12 – including Aghios Anargyri – Kamatero, Vrilissia, Chalandri, Glyfada, Piraeus, Ithaca, Karpathos, Loutraki, Symi, Pyrgos, Rhodes and Leros – filed sufficient evidence to be accepted. The others, including that of the Municipality of Athens, were rejected as unsubstantiated. Since then, however, the matter has been “frozen” and effectively abandoned, with the final decision being deferred for four years.

At the same time, the Ministry of Finance is moving forward with other interventions. In particular, it is paving the way for the inclusion of 2,167 new areas in the object-based system, covering the last 1.5% of the territory that was taxed by comparables, causing distortions and unequal treatment.

In Attica, areas such as Varkiza, Legreina, Agia Marina, Charakas, Daskalio, Porto Rafti, Salamina, Kythera and Aegina will be given objective values for the first time, while in the rest of the country, the measure will cover areas in Achaia, Ilia, Trikala and Florina.

Although commercial prices continue their frantic rise, the government is keeping property values unchanged until 2027. This stability is somewhat of a relief for transfer taxes and the housing market, combined with the other measures being implemented: a suspension of capital gains tax until the end of 2026, a VAT freeze on newly built houses and a rent rebate for those renting their first home.

All of this will be back in focus on Saturday at the TIF, where the prime minister is expected to announce a new package of housing measures in an effort to ease the burden on households that are seeing housing costs soar.