The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Greece now accounts for more than 90% of the national average monthly wage—over double the corresponding share across the EU-27, according to a new policy brief by the Centre for Liberal Studies (KEFIM). The report, titled ‘Housing Prices and Rents in Greece and the European Union’, authored by KEFIM Research Programme Assistant Christos Loukas, highlights mounting housing affordability pressures across the country.
Rent Burden Reaches Record Levels
In Athens, the situation is especially acute: rent for a one-bedroom apartment consumes 70.2% of the average monthly wage, while for a two-bedroom unit, that figure jumps to 93.6%. Overall, rents for small apartments absorb more than two-thirds of the average salary—making independent living increasingly unattainable for young workers, couples, and new families.
This steep rent burden significantly reduces disposable income available for basic needs, savings, and consumption. Crucially, rising housing costs disproportionately affect renters—those without property—and further hinder home ownership, deepening financial vulnerability.
Greece’s Rent Surge Among Highest in the EU
In 2025, Greece recorded the second-highest annual rent increase in the European Union at +10.1%, trailing only Croatia. By comparison, average rent growth across the EU-27 stood at 3.2%, while residential property prices rose by 5.5%.
Greek rental prices have followed a volatile trajectory over the past two decades: strong pre-crisis growth, a sharp decline between 2011 and 2018, stagnation until 2021, and then a marked upward surge beginning in 2022.
Property Prices: From Crash to Recovery
House prices in Greece—particularly in Athens—have now surpassed pre-crisis levels following a rapid rebound since 2017. Between 2000 and 2007, prices nearly doubled in Athens and other urban centres, fuelled by credit expansion, low eurozone interest rates, and Olympic-related investment.
That boom was followed by the steepest real estate price collapse in the EU: from 2007 to 2017, Athens saw prices fall by nearly 44%, reflecting the depth of Greece’s fiscal crisis, the three successive bailout memoranda, capital controls, and a dramatic contraction in construction activity. A similar trend occurred across urban areas nationwide.
Since 2018, however, property prices have climbed sharply—driven largely by foreign demand, among other factors.