Valuation

Real estate investment companies (REICs) have been reading up on the strategies developed during the period of the deep recession in the early 2010s ahead of the difficult months ahead for the property market.
The three main policies REIC managers will be following this year are investment risk management, lower bids for property purchases, and the targeting of higher returns.

Despite the strong rally by Greek stocks since the start of the year, HSBC estimates the Athens Exchange still has great potential to climb further. On Tuesday the British bank upgraded its recommendation for the local market from neutral to overweight, stressing that Greece's macroeconomic prospects have improved considerably after the elections, with a positive impact on stocks.

Freezer and glass bottle and jar manufacturer Frigoglass saw its sales rise 14.2 percent in the second quarter of 2019, to 162.69 million, up from 142.44 million in the same period in 2018.
The growth allowed it to get into the black, with a net profit of 8.77 million, compared to an 836,000-euro loss in the same period last year.

Holiday home transactions on selected islands of the Cyclades recorded a 54 percent annual increase in the first half of the year, according to an analysis of data from the Property Transaction Value Register of the Finance Ministry's General Secretariat of Information Systems.

The net nominal average salary dropped to 2,933 lei in February this year, less by 3 lei (-0.1pct) compared to the previous month, when the gross nominal average salary was 4,819 lei, by 0.4pct lower than in January 2019, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INS) data published on Monday.

Financial analysts are expressing worries that the prospect of a general election could lead to a fiscal derailment with stagnation, if not backtracking on reforms, given the departures of some government officials from the ruling coalition who belong to the Independent Greeks party.

The local residential property market is expected to continue moving at various speeds in 2019, as the segments that are seeing considerable interest from abroad are experiencing plenty of activity at a time when demand and transactions in others remain frozen.

Thousands of properties are coming into the state's possession not because they're bogged down in debt, but simply because the people who inherit them are opting to give up the titles.

Compared with the previous month, the average gross wage increased by 6.2 percent in nominal terms and by 5 percent in real terms, the Statistical Office of Serbia (RZZS) has announced.

The average net wage meanwhile increased by 6.7 percent in nominal terms, and by 5.5 percent in real terms.

Average gross salaries and wages paid in Serbia in November amounted to RSD 65,609 (EUR 550) - RSD 47,575 (EUR 400) net.

Compared to October, this was an increase of 1.6 percent in nominal and real terms, while average net salaries and wages increased by 1.5 percent both in nominal and real terms, the Statistic Office (RZS) announced.