12.03.2024
Residential real estate continues to be unaffordable for buyers, and the cost of housing in some cases is even becoming prohibitive.
Indicative is the significant annual increase of 16.4% in the total value of building permits issued in the period January-December 2023. In particular, for residential buildings the annual increase in value reached 23.7% in 2023.
The value of permits for residential buildings, which exceeded 2.34 billion euros, is calculated for a lower number of permits (4,923) compared to 2022 (5,210). In contrast, non-residential building permit prices fell 12.6% year over year.
In addition to cost, the area of permits issued for residential buildings in 2023 increased by 8.2% compared to 2022, in contrast to non-residential buildings, whose area was reduced by 13.4%.
With 7,170 building permits issued in 2023, 11,041 residential units are expected to be built.
The shift in interest of buyers, as well as real estate market participants, towards apartments is obvious: the projected number of constructed apartment buildings (6903) increased significantly by 29.2% compared to 2022 (5341).
On the other hand, detached houses and semi-detached houses lost some of their momentum, with corresponding permits registering annual declines of 8% and 8.7% respectively. Specifically, based on building permits issued last year, 2,903 single-family homes and 867 two-family homes are expected to be built, with a slight decline of 6.9% for licensed multi-family homes, which are estimated to reach 367.
