Greek realty bucks euro trend

House sale prices in Greece posted the third largest increase in the European Union in the first quarter of this year, Eurostat data showed on Thursday.

The increase reached 10.4%, behind only Poland and Bulgaria, where prices recorded an annual increase of 18% and 16% respectively.

Overall in Europe the picture is relatively stable, as in the EU a small increase of 1.3% was recorded, while in the eurozone prices fell by 0.4%. Based on Eurostat data, house sale prices fell in seven countries, while increases were recorded in 19. The biggest decreases are observed in Luxembourg with 10.9%, Germany with 5.7% and France with 4.8%.

In a recent analysis, Alpha Bank reported that the housing sales price index in Greece, as published by the Bank of Greece, has seen a total increase of 66% since the third quarter of 2017, which was the lowest point in the market until...