ATHENS — Apartment prices rose by an average 4.2 pct in 2020 compared with the an average increase of 7.2 pct in 2019, the Bank of Greece said on Tuesday. The central bank, in a report said that according to data collected from credit institutions, nominal apartment prices are estimated to have increased on average by 2.6 pct year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2020.

More specifically, in the fourth quarter of 2020, the year-on-year rate of increase in prices was 2.0 pct for "new" apartments (up to 5 years old) and 3.0 pct for "old" apartments (over 5 years old). For 2020, prices of “new” apartments increased on average by 4.7 pct, against an increase of 7.7 pct in 2019, whereas prices of “old” apartments increased by 3.9 pct in 2020, against an increase of 6.9 pct in 2019.

According to regional data, in the fourth quarter of 2020 apartment prices are estimated to have increased year-on-year by 5.2 pct in Athens and 4.1 pct in Thessaloniki, whereas a minor decline was recorded in other cities and other areas of Greece (-0.5 pct and -0.3 pct, respectively). For 2020, apartment prices increased on average by 7.4 pct, 4.6 pct, 0.1 pct and 1.8 pct, respectively, in the above-mentioned areas. Finally, as regards all urban areas of the country, in the fourth quarter of 2020 apartment prices increased by 2.8 pct year-on-year, whereas for 2020 as a whole the average annual increase was 4.5 pct.