Property auctions are certain to drive market prices even lower

Professionals in the property sector are warning that the auctioning of tens of thousands of buildings in the next few years could evolve into an unknown - probably negative - factor regarding the course of prices in the market.

It is estimated that a wave of auctions expected to begin soon will see market rates drop at least 10 percent. This is the view which surveyors cooperating with the state, banks and clearing firms such as PQH converge at. Clearing firms are currently involved in an extensive program of property valuations to establish starting prices for the auctions.

Ilias Ziogas, head of property consultancy company NAI Hellas and one of the founding members of the Chartered Surveyors Association, said that the property market is certain to suffer further as a result of the auctions: "The impact on prices will be clearly negative, not because the price of a...