How has the real estate market evolved from 2000 until today.

What are the "hottest" points of interest.

There are a lot of reasons that have led us in the current situation of real estate market, however whether it is a good time for investment or not, we should think about it considering a number of different and individual factors. Choosing the right business partner and the appropriate guidance are necessary and critical.

Vasilis Asteriadis writes

Observing how the real estate market has evolved in Greece over the years, anyone can detect the interesting points, and can understand the current situation whether he wants to invest / buy or sell.

Changes on real estate data in the new millennium

2000 was definitely a year to remember. The end and the beginning of a new millennium and the beginning of a new decade with economic growth / were two of most and noticeable events that happened but towards the end of it we all experienced a global financial crisis.

The real estate market followed the same course. But as Nicollo Machiavelli said: "If someone wants to predict the future, he must look at the past, as the events of today are similar to those of the past. This is because they are created by people who have always been and will always be driven by the same passions and that is why we have the same results”.

Let's look at facts:

The beginning of the new Millennium was introduced to us with a new currency, we said goodbye to Drachma and the exchange rates and we welcomed the common European currency, Euro.  In the real estate market were also made changes, (mainly in Attica), which affected the market. We welcomed the metro, which upgraded many areas in Athens and opened an access to the center of the capital.

In Attica, beside the new modern airport, it was also built the Attiki Odos, which basically connected long distance areas and the arriving between each area was reduced by more than 70% (for example Lavrio) and these new areas began to be converted into suburbs. These two additions left a legacy of a huge coastal "plot for exploitation", known to all of us as the Hellinikon Project.

Of course, we cannot overlook the Olympic Games of 2004, which not only displayed Athens all over the world, but at the same time upgraded Athens’s infrastructure, renovated forgotten buildings and hotels. At this time we were introduced to larger and more comfortable sidewalks with provision for blinds and bicycle paths, but the most crucial is that Athens and Greece in general entered the map of  foreign investments. Of course, we must always keep in mind that Athens is the oldest capital in the world with continuous habitation, so any comparison with newer cities is unfair and the possibilities for upgrading are limited.

After the Olympics, real estate values were increasing due to market demand, many mortgages were issued, and the gradual growth of tourism had created a note of optimism with real estate prices reaching unprecedented levels.

The delayed crisis from abroad and the destruction of the real estate values

In 2008 a global crisis started from the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers that arrived in our country in the period 2009-2010 and so the new decade did not start well for the real estate market. In fact, by 2012 the upheavals and the ongoing political controversies - elections - had frozen the interest in buying / investing in real estate. At this point the real estate market started waking up from a summer night dream that lasted more than 10 years. For the first time, we saw significant reductions in real estate values and bargaining to reduce rents was a daily occurrence. It must be noted that  reductions in real estate values had also been made in the past but due to high inflation and devaluation of the national currency were not easily perceivable. After all, for decades, the country had the misconception that "by investing in real estate, you never lose…"

The period of the memoranda that started at the beginning of 2010 and lasted until 2015 was one of the worst times for the Greek Real Estate Market. Shops in very central locations had been for years available for rent, construction had stalled and there was a little interest in buying and investing in the real estate market, driving property owners in despair.

However, the memoranda also brought changes in the daily life of the market, the real estate acquired new taxation (ENFIA  that was presented as a temporary tax but it still exists for a decade), the settlement of arbitrary constructions and buildings began, the Certificate of non-arbitrariness and energy efficiency became mandatory, the Leasing legislation changed, the real estate industry begun to  upgrade although it had shrunk (in fact, the real estate agent certification process has started since 2020) and also the sale of real estates was linked to the repayment of the entire amount of  country’s public debts, new objective values were announced that were closer to the real ones, etc.  

Many of these changes upgraded the situation; however their implementation caused additional delay because of bureaucracy and increased the cost of selling / renting causing problems to real estate market.

At the beginning of 2016, the real estate market began to react, and slowly the buoyancy became more and more noticeable by the beginning of 2020. The demand for Golden Visa had conquered a part of the market, also the short-term lease (the well-known AirBnB) came and was added to the tourist services, giving hopes to a lot of areas in Greece.

However, in March 2020, the global health crisis locked all the activities because of the quarantines and the insecurity that was established on all social issues.  Of course, the real estate market stopped operating and has not yet recovered to normal.

What comes next?

The forecast for the future is optimistic as the Greek tourism industry has kept up with the circumstances, and yes inflation scenarios are heard but investing in real estate is traditionally the best protection against inflationary trends and the demand for Golden Visa is expected to be increased.

The history of Ellika Real Estate begins in early 2000 with an office in the heart of Athens, in Thiseio on one of the most historic streets, on 39 Herakleidon and for a decade monopolizes the emerging area in the Gazi, Psyrri and Acropolis.

As the years go by, Ellika's team, founded and led by Vasilis Axarlis, grows and covers the entire Attica basin and beyond. It is established with a large and specialized team in the area of the Historic Center of Athens with management of central properties, such as the Athenaida Building, the GEK Group building, but also with hotel sales, both in the center of Athens and in well-known tourist destinations (Mykonos etc), sales of rare apartments in very central streets - Herod Atticus & Dionysios Aeropagitos and many more.

Ellika Real Estate is evolving and after a lot of thoughts and analysis of the real estate market, it is decided to open a branch office in collaboration with Vasilis Asteriadis at the beginning of 2021 to cover all northern suburbs. Ellika North as is named the new office is located in the shopping center of Kifisia at 9 Argyropoulou Street.  Now Ellika has adopted the most modern real estate presentation procedures with a professional photographer in its staff for real estate photography & videography, 360º virtual tour, staffed Marketing department for the specialized and appropriately targeted promotion of real estate through social media and even traditional methods of television advertising.

The hottest points of interest

The market of real estate which includes the areas from Psychiko to Ekali shows signs of growth in recent months both on residential and commercial properties.

Kifisias Avenue is traditionally the main road which has modern office buildings with most of them keeping the new sanitary ventilation and protection protocols. In addition, the access to the center has been significantly improved with the new road network, Attiki Odos and the Metro reduced the required time to reach the center. Kifisia Avenue and is still considered the main road with the most commercial spaces, along with Vouliagmeni Avenue and Syggrou Avenue.

In addition, in the northern suburbs have started to construct modern buildings and now they compete with the southern suburbs constructions.

This period seems to be one of the biggest challenges in the Greek real estate market, so choosing a smart and successful investment is definitely a multi-level decision. The help and guidance of the right professionals is crucial. If someone is interested in selling their property, whether it is an investment interest move or a search for lease or purchase of a property to improve their daily lives, the specialized associates of Ellika Real Estate can prove to be the most valuable help, providing guidance and multi-level assurance in a way that without a doubt, the more help is provided to someone, better and more profitable path he chooses.