Greeks would have to pay 15.3 times their annual gross salary to buy a 70-square-meter apartment in Athens, the second worst performance after the Dutch, who come first in Europe, as they will have to pay 15.4 times their annual gross income for a similar apartment in Amsterdam. At the opposite end of the spectrum, it’s the Danes who are lucky, namely in the city of Odense, Denmark’s third largest city, where residents have to pay an average of 4.9 times their annual gross salary to buy a 70 sq m apartment. The same price is true for Turin, Italy, while the third best performer is Manchester, UK, with a price of 5.3 times.

The figures come from the latest study of 28 countries across Europe by Deloitte, the well-known provider of audit, tax, advisory, financial and other services that measures housing market performance through its local offices each year. In this year’s survey, the housing issue of Greeks is captured in numbers that also compare with conditions currently in other European markets, including those of Israel and Turkey.

Amsterdam and Athens lead the ranking both in terms of cities and European capitals, with Prague rounding out the top 3, since there too residents will have to pay 15 times their gross income for a 70 sq m apartment. “These high figures show that in some metropolises there is still a significant imbalance between supply and demand – regardless of income differences by country,” the study comments.

“The shortage of owner-occupied housing and the inability to acquire it is boosting the rental market, where rental prices are showing significant increases not only in metropolitan centres, such as Prague, but also in cities in the Region. High interest rates, increasing rentals and a slowdown in the pace of new home construction in Europe are making households and developers more cautious. However, demand remains strong – especially in cities with significant population growth.”

Sale prices

Luxembourg is the most expensive country to buy a new home this year, with an average price of €8,760 per square metre, followed by Israel and the UK with prices at €6,131 per sq m and €5,203 respectively. Greece, given the wide gap between Athens and the periphery (especially on the mainland), ranks among the cheapest European markets at a country level – and this despite a double-digit increase in selling prices in one year by 10.2% – with an average price of 1,792 euros per sq.m.

On a city level, Athens is clearly higher – but not too high – compared to other markets across Europe with an average selling price for new homes, as reported in the Deloitte survey, at €4,098 per sq m. On a city level, Tel Aviv in Israel remains at the top of the list, where the price of a new apartment averages €13,970 per sq m, while on the Old Continent, the city of Luxembourg is very expensive with an average price on new homes at 11,074 euros per sq.m., with Frankfurt and Paris following with prices at 10,800 euros per sq.m. and 10,760 euros per sq.m.

The cheapest price per sq.m. is recorded in Turkey, in Ankara, with a price of 905 euros (due to reduced investment interest of developers turning to the Turkish coast and slowing population growth rates), while in Istanbul the corresponding figure is 1,469 euros per sq.m., about the same as in Patras, at 1,457 euros per sq.m.

The study notes that the largest annual increase in new apartment prices was recorded in Krakow, Poland (+28.1%), followed by Jerusalem (+25.2%) and the Albanian cities of Tirana and Vlora (both +25%). Athens is in 6th place with the cities with the largest increase, out of 25 capitals, with an increase of 10.8%.

Rents and housing credit

When it comes to rents, even though Greeks have been faced with constant, large increases in recent years, Athens, with an average price of 12.7 euros per square metre per month, is still … cheap, at least for foreigners! In the city of Luxembourg, the average price is 3.5 times higher at 43.4 euros per sq.m., followed by Paris at 32 euros, Dublin at 31.7 euros per sq.m. and just below the 30 euros per sq.m. threshold, at 29.9 euros per sq.m., Barcelona. Two Albanian cities, Durres and Vlora, are the two cheapest cities across Europe in terms of rents, with an average price of 4.9 euros and 5 euros, respectively, while Patras is also among the cheapest cities, with an average rent price that has now reached 7 euros.

Deloitte also analyses the picture in the housing market, given that “interest rates play a key role in shaping borrowing costs and overall housing affordability. Due to macroeconomic conditions and central bank policies, mortgage rates continue to vary significantly across countries.” Among the 28 countries analysed by the firm this year (with 2024 data), Hungary recorded the highest average mortgage interest rate, reaching 9.35%. “If a simple average of all interest rates reported across all participating countries in the survey is calculated, the overall average would be 4.36%, pointing to a moderate cost of borrowing in the region,” the survey said.

Greece is a little higher, with a 4.61%, a figure that nonetheless ranks it in 8th place.

Countries where interest rates exceeded the 5.0% threshold include:

-Cologne (7.67%)
-Romania (6.89%)
-Norway (5.66%)
-Albania (5.26%)
-Czech Republic (5.07%)
At the other end of the spectrum, the lowest mortgage rates were reported in:
-Bulgaria (2.83%)
-Croatia (2.86%)
-Turkey (3.01%)

In addition to static comparisons, the report also assesses year-on-year changes in mortgage rates between countries. The most significant increase was observed in Hungary, where rates rose by 195 basis points (bps), indicating tighter monetary conditions.

Other countries with notable increases included, always based on the survey, Greece and also:

-Turkey and Portugal (both +83 basis points)
-Norway (+82 basis points)
-Greece (+51 basis points)
-Slovakia (+32 basis points)
-Bosnia and Herzegovina (+27 basis points)

In contrast, 18 of the 28 countries analysed had a decrease in interest rates during the year. The largest decreases were recorded in:

-Serbia (-82 basis points)
-Romania and Italy (both -79 basis points)
-Luxembourg (-77 basis points)
-Czech Republic and Croatia (both -74 basis points)
-Denmark (-71 basis points)

Thus, while 10 countries showed an increase in mortgage rates, the majority showed a downward trend and overall, the average mortgage rate across Europe in 2024 shows signs of a slight upward movement.