Athens has registered a strong rise of 11% increase in residential property property prices in the second quarter of 2019, according to the Greek central bank. The residential prices for Athens have increase by 30,000 euros driven by Airbnb, Golden visas and student demand, according to reports from Greek media.
The central bank data  shows, in the second quarter of 2019 apartment prices are estimated to have increased year-on-year by 11.1% in Athens, 7.0% in Thessaloniki, 4.1% in other cities and 4.9% in other areas of Greece.  In all urban areas of the country, in the second quarter of 2019 apartment prices increased year-on-year by 8.0%.
Since the launch of the golden visa scheme, Athens issued residence permits to 1853 foreign investors for buying real estate worth atleast 250,000 euros, according to ministry for migration policy. This is only one third of the golden visas issued in entire Greece. Last year, the Government proposed expanding the golden visa scheme to include bonds and shares to stem the soaring property prices in real estate sector, however the proposals have been delayed and yet to be implemented. Foreign property investors have also access to Greek citizenship after seven years of living.
There are over 2000 Airbnb listings in Athens city alone.
The Airbnb phenomenon has raised rents in areas such as Kypseli, Goudi, Gyzi, and Ampelokipi. For example 80 sqm apartment in Kipseli with sale price in 2016 from 35,000 – 40,000, today for sale 64,000 euros, reported Ethnos Greece.
In May 2019 alone, the building permits for the Private Building Activity issued in Greece in May 2019 amounted to 1,442 which is 7.3% increase compared to the previous year. Â Inflation remained at 0%.
The Greek economy has swinging towards the positive growth, driven by tourism, real estate and other sectors. The available non-seasonally adjusted data indicate that in the 2nd quarter of 2019 the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in volume2 terms increased by 1.9% in comparison with the 2nd quarter of 2018
