Athens ranks as the third-least affordable city for homebuyers in Deloitte’s 2026 Property Index, with only Vlorë in Albania and Prague in the Czech Republic recording worse results.
The study, covering 25 countries and 71 cities using 2025 data, compares the cost of newly built homes with average gross annual earnings.
New Apartment Costs 16 Annual Salaries
According to Deloitte, purchasing a new 70-square-meter apartment in Athens requires the equivalent of 16 gross annual salaries, compared with 15.3 in the previous report.
Although Athens moved from second to third place in the ranking, housing affordability deteriorated as the cost relative to earnings increased. By comparison, a similar apartment costs the equivalent of 4.7 annual salaries in Turin, Italy, and 4.9 in Bergen, Norway, and Odense, Denmark.
Across the surveyed cities, the number requiring more than ten annual salaries to purchase a new apartment increased from 11 to 19. The index measures property prices against gross wages and does not account for taxes, living expenses or mortgage financing.
Athens Prices More Than Double National Average
Despite Athens’ low affordability ranking, Greece remains among the countries with relatively inexpensive housing in the study.
The national average price of newly built residential property stands at €1,931 per square meter, the fifth-lowest among 22 countries with available data. However, prices in Athens average €4,364 per square meter, approximately 126% above the national average, according to figures reported by Newmoney.
In Thessaloniki, the corresponding price is €3,089 per square meter, while in Patras it is €1,608. The figures highlight substantial differences between the Greek capital and other domestic housing markets, both in property prices and affordability relative to local earnings.
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