Real estate market downfall continues, Infobank Hellastat says

The adverse economic conditions in Greece along with fiscal consolidation measures have significantly affected construction activity and therefore real estate, according to a study by Infobank Hellastat.

Lower housing credit and successive increases in property tax have also affected negatively the sector,

the study said.
Based on the findings of the study, overall construction activity has been constantly declining since 2005, while in 2012 alone it fell by 36.7 percent to 22,627 building permits.

Meanwhile, there is an oversupply of properties in the market while demand is rather low, particularly for houses. According to the study, about 250,000-270,000 homes remain unsold. This trend has led to lower prices, thus reducing the value of the property portfolio and causing significant losses in the sector, the study added.

Infobank Hellastat analyzed the financial statements of the 600 largest real estate companies based on their turnover. Specifically, turnover stood at 555.43 million euros in 2012, down 10.6 percent compared to 2011, with 7 out of 10 companies posting lower revenues. The capital leverage was 0.5 to 1, having improved slightly since 2011.

source: ΑΜΝΑ