Opening 700,000 vacant houses could be a gamechanger

The return to the real estate market of at least 700,000 homes that are currently closed or have stood empty for a number of years could play a key role in addressing Greece's housing crisis.

According to data compiled by the Eteron Institute for Research and Social Change, Greece has the highest percentage of vacant homes in Europe, with large concentrations in urban areas. In 2011, the percentage of vacant houses in the Municipality of Athens was 31%, in Piraeus 28% and in Thessaloniki 28.2%.

How much these homes are "missing" from the market is reflected in rental prices, which have shot up by 40% to 50% in recent years, squeezing household purchasing power. At the same time, a large portion of the apartments available for rent today are of low quality, old and hardly ever renovated.

According to data from online property management platform Protio, 65% of...