Real estate: At the height of parental benefits and sales – The data of AADE – 2024-03-11 23:11:57

Property transfers remain on an upward trajectory despite the rally that prices continue to record in the market.

The “appetite” of Greeks and foreigners for investments in the Greek real estate market is reflected in the data of AADE which showed that over 400,000 declarations for real estate transfers were submitted to the myPROPERTY platform with taxes from sales, parental benefits, donations and real estate inheritances reaching 761 million .euro from 710.10 million euro in 2022.

For 2024, the budget predicts that tax revenues from real estate transfers will exceed 800 million euros. Taxes reaching 570 million euros are expected to be collected from the sales, while another 235 million euros are estimated to flow into state coffers from parental benefits, donations and inheritances, ot.gr reports.

The data of AADE

• Collections from transfer taxes last year amounted to 520.24 million euros, while in 2022 they had risen to 483.86 million euros. Revenues from the building transfer tax (buildings) amounted to 426.04 million euros against 371.24 million euros in 2022, registering an increase of 14.76%. On the contrary, a 16.75% drop was recorded in the tax-revenues from the purchase and sale of plots and parcels of land, which amounted to 94.20 million euros from 112.62 million euros a year earlier.
• Parental benefits donations and inheritances moved at high levels with the taxes that strengthened the state coffers amounting to 240.67 million euros in 2023 from 226.24 million euros in 2022. The increase in donations and parental benefits is mainly attributed to the readjustment of the tax-free limit of 800,000 euros for first-class relatives, i.e. spouses, persons who have entered into a cohabitation agreement, children, grandchildren and parents.

According to the Bank of Greece, expectations for the Greek residential real estate market remain positive, despite uncertainties in the domestic and global economy.

In the short term, it is estimated that investment interest, mainly from abroad, will remain strong especially for specific privileged positions in Attica and for areas with tourist characteristics.

In the medium term, initiatives related to the support of specific categories of households (e.g. young, vulnerable social groups, “My Home” program) to acquire a home are expected to contribute to stimulating demand, while corresponding initiatives to renovate old homes (e.g. e.g. “Renovate” – “Save” program) are expected to contribute to the improvement of the building stock.

Price rally

The BoE data showed that apartment prices rose at an average annual rate of 13.4% in 2023, compared to an increase of 11.9% in 2022.

In more detail, the price increase in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the corresponding quarter of 2022 was 11.0% for new apartments, i.e. up to 5 years old, and 12.4% for old ones, i.e. aged over 5 years old. For 2023, the average annual price growth rate for new apartments was 12.4%, compared to 12.5% ​​growth in 2022, while the average annual growth rate for old apartments was 14.2% in 2023, compared to 11.6% increase in 2022.

From the analysis of the data by geographic region, it appears that the increase in apartment prices in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared to the corresponding quarter of 2022 was 10.8% in Athens, 14.6% in Thessaloniki, 13.9% in other large cities and 11.2% in the rest of the country. For the whole of 2023, the price increase in the same regions compared to 2022 was 13.7%, 16.2%, 14.5% and 10.8% respectively.