Indices of house prices and residential property transactions: Q4 2011

09/02/2012 - Press Releases

According to data collected from credit institutions,(1) nominal apartment prices are estimated to have declined by 5.9% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2011 (revised data on annual rates of change: Q1: -5.4%, Q2: -4.9% and Q3: -4.3%). Apartment prices fell by 5.1% on average in 2011, compared with 4.7% in 2010.

Apartment prices by age and geographical area

More specifically, the prices of “new” apartments, i.e. up to 5 years old, dropped year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2011 by 5.4% (Q1: -5.1%, Q2: -3.6% and Q3: -3.3%, according to revised data), and the prices of “old” apartments, i.e. over 5 years old, by 6.2% (2011 Q1: -5.6%, Q2: -5.7%, Q3: -4.8%). The prices of “new” apartments declined by 4.4% on average in 2011, at a lower rate than “old” apartments (-5.6%), compared with a drop of 4.2% and 5.0%, respectively, in 2010. The stronger decline in the prices of "old" apartments, recorded during the current crisis, reflects the relatively stronger persistence of newly-built apartments which are generally available for sale by construction firms.

According to data broken down by geographical area, apartment prices are estimated to have declined year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2011 by 7.9% in Athens, 8.1% in Thessaloniki, 4.0% in other big cities and 2.8% in other areas of Greece. In the first quarter of 2011, the respective annual rates of change were -6.2%, -7.8%, -4.3% and -3.8%, in the second quarter -6.9%, -4.2%, -4.0% and -1.8%, and in the third quarter -4.3%, -6.3%, -3.4% and -4.2%. These figures show that apartment prices in Athens and Thessaloniki declined at a stronger rate in the course of 2011 (average annual change: -6.3% and -6.6%, respectively).

In order to provide a more complete picture of house prices, the Bank of Greece has produced two new tables, apart from the table on house prices by geographical area (Athens, Thessaloniki, other big cities and other areas), which distinguish between “new” (up to 5 years old) and “old” (over 5 years old) apartments . According to data broken down by geographical area, it is estimated that, on average, the prices of “new” apartments were generally lower in 2011 than in 2010: Athens: -6.4%, Thessaloniki: -7.3%, other big cities:-2.9% and other areas of Greece: -1.9%, while the rates of change in “old” apartments prices were: -6.3%, -6.3%, -4.8% and -4.3%, respectively. The detailed tables are published in the “Bulletin of Conjunctural Indicators” (Tables ΙΙ.7.1 and ΙΙ.7.2) and are available on the Bank of Greece’s website

Indices of residential property transactions-appraisals (2)

Residential property transactions-appraisals conducted with Monetary Financial Institution (MFI) intermediation came to 7,546 in the fourth quarter of 2011, compared with 9,372 in the third quarter, 11,897 in the second quarter and 12,808 in the first quarter (data collected from credit institutions). In the fourth quarter of 2011, home appraisals conducted with the intermediation of credit institutions for any reason (renegotiation of existing loans, registration of a mortgage to back non-mortgage loans, debt transfers from one bank to another, etc.) fell by 51.7% year-on-year (Q3: -47.5%, Q2: -36.4% and Q1: -40.5%). For the whole of 2011, the number of appraisals reached 41,623, dropping significantly by 44.1% year-on-year (2010: 74,457), compared with a slight drop of 0.2% in 2010 (2009: 74,586).

The volume of residential property transactions-appraisals (based on total square metres) dropped by 49.4% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2011 (Q1: -43.6%, Q2: -33.7%, Q3: -38.7%, according to revised data). For 2011, as a whole, this volume declined at an average annual rate of 41.3%, compared with 0.1% in 2010.

Finally, the value of residential property appraisals-transactions conducted with MFI intermediation dropped by 49.8% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2011 (revised data: Q1: -43.6%, Q2: -32.3% and Q3: -39.0%). The average annual rate of change in 2011 was -41.2%, against -6.2% in 2010.

INDICES OF APARTMENT PRICES⁽¹⁾
(2007=100)
	2010	2011
	average	Q1	Q2*	Q3*	Q4*	average*
*Ι. Summary*
Price index	93.3	91.1	89.6	88.0	85.5	88.6
(%) change over previous year	-4.7%	-5.4%	-4.9%	-4.3%	-5.9%	-5.1%

*II. BY AGE*
1. New (up to 5 years old)
Price index	96.0	93.8	92.7	92.1	88.5	91.8
(%) change over previous year	-4.2%	-5.1%	-3.6%	-3.3%	-5.4%	-4.4%
2. Old (over 5 years old)
Price index	91.7	89.4	87.7	85.5	83.6	86.6
(%) change over previous year	-5.0%	-5.6%	-5.7%	-4.8%	-6.2%	-5.6%

*ΙΙΙ. BY GEOGRAPHICAL AREA*
1. Athens
Price index	93.2	90.0	88.3	87.1	83.6	87.3
(%) change over previous year	-3.2%	-6.2%	-6.9%	-4.3%	-7.9%	-6.3%
2. Thessaloniki
Price index	88.4	84.9	85.2	80.9	79.2	82.5
(%) change over previous year	-7.4%	-7.8%	-4.2%	-6.3%	-8.1%	-6.6%
3. Other big cities
Price index	93.7	92.5	90.8	88.8	88.1	90.1
(%) change over previous year	-5.3%	-4.3%	-4.0%	-3.4%	-4.0%	-3.9%
4. Other areas of Greece
Price index	95.4	94.6	93.3	92.1	89.6	92.4
(%) change over previous year	-5.8%	-3.8%	-1.8%	-4.2%	-2.8%	-3.2%


INDICES OF HOUSE APPRAISALS-TRANSACTIONS WITH MFI INTERMEDIATION ⁽²⁾
1. Transactions
Number of transactions	74,457	12,808	11,897	9,372	7,546	41,623
(%) change over previous year	-0.2%	-47.5%	-36.4%	-40.5%	-51.7%	-44.1%
2. Volume of transactions (total m²)
Volume index (2007=100)	46.7	33.3	31.0	24.8	20.6	27.4
(%) change over previous year	-0.1%	-43.6%	-33.7%	-38.7%	-49.4%	-41.3%
3. Value of transactions
Value index (2007=100)	45.0	32.9	29.9	23.1	19.9	26.5
(%) change over previous year	-6.2%	-43.6%	-32.3%	-39.0%	-49.8%	-41.2%

* Provisional data.

Source: Bank of Greece.

(1) Bank of Greece indices on house prices and on the number and volume of residential property transactions use detailed data reported to the Bank of Greece by all the credit institutions with activities in Greece. These data are compiled by the Real Estate Market Analysis Section of the Bank of Greece as from 2009, in compliance with Bank of Greece Governor’s Act 2610/31.10.2008. They include banks’ assessment of the current market value of all residential property, as well as details on qualitative characteristics. A total of about 567,287 thousand appraisals were reported to the Bank of Greece (by end-January 2012) (67.9% concerning apartments, 19.0% houses, 5.7% maisonettes, 5.4% building plots, and 2.0% other types of property).

(2) The indices of residential property transactions are based on appraisal reports by banks’ engineers regarding the value and qualitative characteristics of residential property financed or used as collateral for loans extended by credit institutions. Part of these appraisals may not be associated with residential property transactions, but concern the renegotiation of existing loans, registration of a mortgage to back non-housing loans, debt transfers from one bank to another, etc.