Greece to have its real estate price index soon

Greece is going to have its own real estate price index soon and the central bank of the country will take the initiative, according to its Governor, to gauge the course of property prices and help cover the need for a credible benchmark in a better manner. It is worthwhile to mention that property accounts for one fourth of total investment in Greece and 82 percent of household wealth. However, even after this there is no widely accepted benchmark that can methodically keep track of real estate price behavior.

Speaking on this Bank of Greece Governor George Provopoulos told a real estate conference, ‘In Greece the largest part of wealth is held in property, affecting households’ propensity to spend and save.’ ‘This has an impact on economic activity and inflation.’ The Bank of Greece is the national central bank of Greece, located in Athens and was founded in 1927. Its operations started officially in 1928.

In the recent days, the central bank established a real estate analysis department to collect and process relevant data. Furthermore, it is destined to construct an official real estate price index based on scientific methodology. According to the Governor, appropriate and accurate information on the course of real estate prices will help banks improve assessment of their investment portfolios and manage relevant risks. Only in the last year construction, on the basis of EU Commission statistics, accounted for 10.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in Greece last year and for about 8.7 percent of total employment.

In accordance with the European Mortgage Federation data, Greece is the proud possessor of one of the highest home ownership rates in Western Europe at 80.1 percent against 70.4 percent in the European Union as a whole.

Lastly, this is certainly a new development although serious deliberations were taking place for some years in this regard. Experts hope that the introduction of real estate price index will augment the sector and initiate a new age.