Property market in freefall due to Covid

The property market views 2020 as a lost year, as it has backtracked significantly on its course to recovery recorded over the previous couple of years. The pandemic has resulted in the dwindling of the market's main growth driver - i.e. buying interest from abroad - and this is clearly reflected in the figures of the Bank of Greece.

In the first nine months of the year capital inflows from abroad for the purchase of properties dropped 42.5% on an annual basis: In the year to end-September only 593 million euros was invested, down from €1.03 billion a year earlier, amounting to a reduction of €437 million.

Even so, the property market continues to absorb a considerable share of foreign direct investments in Greece, accounting for 25.3% of the sum, compared to 32.3% last year. Despite the difficult juncture, this year's performance has already exceeded that of 2017,...