Study shows housing costs are unsustainable

A caller study by the Center for Liberal Studies (KEFiM), analyzing Eurostat information for 2024, finds that rental lodging costs successful Greece, peculiarly successful Greater Athens, person reached levels deemed unsustainable for the mean household.

According to the study, the rent-to-income ratio successful the Athens metropolitan country stands astatine 70.2% for a typical one-bedroom flat of up to 60 square meters, and 93.6% for a two-bedroom unit, compared with European Union averages of 31%-34% and 46%, respectively.

With the mean full-time monthly wage astatine €1,500 successful 2024, astir the full income is required to rent a standard two-bedroom flat of 75-95 square meters, where rents mean €1,400 successful Attica. A smaller unit of 50-60 square meters costs astir €1,050, based connected weighted Eurostat information covering some older and newer properties crossed antithetic areas.

These rental levels are broadly comparable to mean rents successful EU capitals, estimated astatine € 1,120 for a one-bedroom flat and €1,514 for a two-bedroom unit. The disparity, the study notes, stems mostly from importantly little wages successful Greece, where mean monthly wage is €1,500 compared with €3,317 crossed the EU.

Historical information amusement a worsening trend. In 2015, during the fiscal crisis, the rent-to-income ratio for a one-bedroom flat successful Athens was 41.6%, already supra the EU mean of 23.7%. By 2024, the ratio had surged to implicit 70%, reflecting declining purchasing powerfulness and insufficient income recovery.

Eurostat information besides bespeak continued upward unit connected rents. In 2025, Greece recorded the second-highest yearly summation successful the EU astatine 10.1%, down Croatia’s 17.6%. Average rents roseate to €1,150 for one-bedroom apartments and €1,500 for two-bedroom units.

From 2000 to 2025, EU rents accrued cumulatively by 56%, while Greece experienced fluctuations, including a 53% emergence betwixt 2000 and 2011, followed by a 26% diminution from 2011 to 2018 during the fiscal crisis. Since 2023, rents person risen again by 5%-10% annually, outpacing inflation.

“The gap, which successful 2025 exceeds 7 percent points, signals a accelerated deterioration successful lodging affordability,” the study said.

Despite caller increases, rents stay 8.7% beneath pre-crisis levels successful existent terms, highlighting the interaction of income losses.