Indices of house prices and residential property transactions: Q4 2012
15/02/2013 - Press Releases
According to data collected from credit institutions,(1) nominal apartment prices are estimated to have declined by 13.2% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2012 (revised data on annual rates of change: Q1: -10.2%, Q2: -10.8% and Q3: -12.6%). Apartment prices fell significantly by 11.7% on average in 2012, compared with 5.5% in 2011.
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 2012 by 11.0% (Q1: -11.1%, Q2: -11.5% and Q3: -13.5%, according to revised data), and the prices of “old” apartments, i.e. over 5 years old, by 14.6% (2012 Q1: -9.5%, Q2: -10.4%, Q3: -11.9%). The prices of “new” apartments declined by 11.8% on average in 2012, against 5.0% in 2011, whereas for “old” apartments the prices declined by 11.6% in 2012, against 5.8% in 2011.
According to data broken down by geographical area, apartment prices are estimated to have declined year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2012 by 13.1% in Athens, 14.7% in Thessaloniki, 12.9% in other big cities as well as in other areas of Greece. In the first quarter of 2012, the respective annual rates of change were -9.9%, -12.2%, -9.0% and -10.9%, in the second quarter -11.3%, -14.1%, -10.1% and -9.3%, and in the third quarter -12.8%, -14.0%,
-11.7% and -12.5%. These figures show that apartment prices in Athens and Thessaloniki declined at a marginally stronger rate in the course of 2012 (average annual change: -11.8% and -13.7%, respectively).
More detailed tables on house prices by geographical area (Athens, Thessaloniki, other cities and other areas), which also distinguish between “new” (up to 5 years old) and “old” (over 5 years old) apartments, are published in the “Bulletin of Conjunctural Indicators” (Tables ΙΙ.7.1 and ΙΙ.7.2), available on the Bank of Greece’s website.
According to data broken down by geographical area, it is estimated that, on average, the prices of “new” apartments were generally lower in 2012 than in 2011: Athens: -12.7%, Thessaloniki: -11.2%, other big cities: -11.3% and other areas of Greece: -11.1%, while the rates of change in “old” apartments prices were: -11.3%, -14.8%, -10.6% and -11.6%, respectively.
Indices of residential property appraisals-transactions (2)
Residential property appraisals-transactions conducted with Monetary Financial Institution (MFI) intermediation came to 9,522 in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared with 5,418 in the third quarter, 6,722 in the second quarter and 6,498 in the first quarter (data collected from credit institutions). In the fourth quarter of 2012, 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.) increased by 15.4% year-on-year compared with significant decrease year-on-year in the previous quarters of 2012 (Q1: -49.3%, Q2: -44.2% and Q3: -44.2%). The increase in the number of appraisals in the last quarter of 2012 is the result of some major commercial banks’ decision to proceed with the revaluation of a significant part of their residential collateral. For the whole of 2012, the number of appraisals reached 28,160, dropping by 34.2% year-on-year (2011: 42,814), against a significant drop of 42.5% in 2011 (2010: 74,457).
The volume of residential property appraisals-transactions (based on total square metres) increased by 14.5% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2012 against a significant drop in the previous quarters of 2012 (Q1: -47.8%, Q2: -44.1%, Q3: -43.7%, according to revised data). For 2012, as a whole, this volume declined at an average annual rate of 33.6%, compared with 39.8% in 2011.
Finally, the value of residential property appraisals-transactions conducted with MFI intermediation dropped by 2.5% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2012 (revised data: Q1: -51.6%, Q2: -50.2% and Q3: -49.3%). The average annual rate of change in 2012 was -41.4%, against -40.1% in 2011.
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INDICES OF APARTMENT PRICES (1)
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(2007=100)
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2010
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2011
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2012*
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2011
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2012 *
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Q4
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Q1*
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Q2*
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Q3*
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Q4*
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Ι. Summary
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Price index
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93.3
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88.2
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78.0
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84.9
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81.9
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79.7
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76.6
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73.7
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(%) change over previous year
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-4.7%
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-5.5%
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-11.7%
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-6.6%
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-10.2%
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-10.8%
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-12.6%
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-13.2%
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II. BY AGE
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1. New (up to 5 years old)
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Price index
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96.0
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91.2
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80.4
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87.3
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83.4
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81.5
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79.0
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77.7
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(%) change over previous year
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-4.2%
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-5.0%
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-11.8%
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-6.7%
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-11.1%
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-11.5%
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-13.5%
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-11.0%
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2. Old (over 5 years old)
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Price index
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91.7
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86.4
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76.4
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83.3
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80.9
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78.6
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75.1
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71.2
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(%) change over previous year
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-5.0%
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-5.8%
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-11.6%
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-6.6%
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-9.5%
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-10.4%
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-11.9%
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-14.6%
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ΙΙΙ. BY GEOGRAPHICAL AREA
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1. Athens
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Price index
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93.2
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87.2
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76.9
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83.5
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81.1
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78.3
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75.8
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72.6
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(%) change over previous year
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-3.2%
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-6.4%
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-11.8%
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-8.0%
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-9.9%
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-11.3%
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-12.8%
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-13.1%
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2. Thessaloniki
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Price index
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88.4
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82.4
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71.1
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78.7
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74.5
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73.2
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69.5
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67.1
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(%) change over previous year
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-7.4%
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-6.8%
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-13.7%
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-8.7%
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-12.2%
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-14.1%
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-14.0%
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-14.7%
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3. Other cities
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Price index
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93.7
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89.9
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80.1
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87.2
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84.2
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81.7
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78.6
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75.9
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(%) change over previous year
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-5.3%
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-4.1%
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-10.9%
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-5.0%
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-9.0%
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-10.1%
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-11.7%
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-12.9%
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4. Other areas of Greece
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Price index
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95.4
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91.2
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80.9
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87.9
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84.3
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83.5
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79.2
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76.5
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(%) change over previous year
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-5.8%
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-4.4%
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-11.4%
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-4.7%
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-10.9%
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-9.3%
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-12.5%
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-12.9%
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INDICES OF HOUSE APPRAISALS-TRANSACTIONS WITH MONETARY FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS INTERMEDIATION (2)
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2010
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2011
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2012*
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2011
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2012 *
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Q4
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Q1*
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Q2*
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Q3*
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Q4*
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1. Appraisals-transactions
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Number of appraisals-transactions
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74,457
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42,814
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28,160
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8,251
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6,498
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6,722
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5,418
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9,522
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(%) change over previous year
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-0.2%
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-42.5%
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-34.2%
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-47.1%
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-49.3%
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-44.2%
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-44.2%
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15.4%
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2. Volume of appraisals-transactions (total m2)
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Volume index (2007=100)
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46.7
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28.1
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18.7
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22.1
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17.4
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17.6
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14.4
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25.3
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(%) change over previous year
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-0.1%
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-39.8%
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-33.6%
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-45.7%
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-47.8%
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-44.1%
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-43.7%
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14.5%
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3. Value of appraisals-transactions
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Value index (2007=100)
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45.0
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27.0
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15.8
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20.4
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15.9
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15.2
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12.2
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19.9
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(%) change over previous year
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-6.2%
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-40.1%
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-41.4%
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-48.6%
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-51.6%
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-50.2%
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-49.3%
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-2.5%
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*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 600,125 appraisals were reported to the Bank of Greece (by end-January 2013) (67.3% concerning apartments, 19.3% houses, 5.6% maisonettes, 5.6% 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.