Last year Eirini Syntihaki rented an apartment in central Athens she cherished for its proximity to friends, work and the city’s cafés. The flat cost 700 euros a month - nearly the entirety of her earnings. A few months ago, after her flatmate moved out, lawyers acting for the Chinese owners informed her they intended to raise the rent.
"With pain in my heart, Im leaving a home I really love, the area, the house itself, the memories," the 28-year-old criminologist said as she packed before moving in with her sister. "I knew I had to leave to survive." Her decision captures the experience of many Greeks who face rents that have outpaced their incomes.
On broad economic measures, Greece has made a clear recovery from the 2009-2018 financial crisis. Growth has surpassed the EU average, the state is repaying bailout loans ahead of schedule and tourist arrivals are at record levels. Yet the benefits of the rebound are not evenly distributed: rapidly rising housing costs, stagnant real income gains for many households and growing indebtedness are curbing consumer spending and stretching budgets.
In a report, the Small Enterprise Institute (IME), a confederation representing small businesses, said income adequacy has reached record lows. "Income adequacy is at a record low, with six out of ten households reporting that their monthly income does not reach the end of the month," the IME noted. It added that economic strain is no longer confined to low-income households but is affecting the middle classes as well.
Supply constraints rooted in the debt crisis
Many of the pressures on the housing market trace back to the crisis years, when construction activity largely halted. A Piraeus Bank report cited a shortage of 180,000 units for rent or sale in Greece's major cities. Policy and market developments since then have further tightened supply.
Greeces golden visa scheme, in place since 2014, has contributed to shrinking available inventory. Migration Ministry figures show that since the mid-2010s some 20,000 properties - predominantly in Athens - were sold to foreign buyers. At the same time, approximately 150,000 units have been converted into short-term rentals aimed at tourists.
The combination of limited new construction, purchases by non-resident buyers and the shift of existing housing into tourist accommodation has increased competition for the remaining rental stock. Themistocles Bakas, president of the E-Real Estate Network, which maintains offices across Greece, described the demand dynamic vividly: hundreds of prospective tenants sometimes attend a single viewing. He compared the phenomenon to wartime queues - "like people waiting in line at a grocery store in the 1940s" - underscoring the intensity of competition for housing.
Prices, income and affordability
The upward trajectory of rents in Greece has been especially strong. E-Real Estate data show that between 2019 and 2024 rents in Athens rose by more than 50% on average as the economy emerged from protracted austerity. By comparison, E-Real Estate figures cited in the same period show two-bedroom rents rising 26% in Madrid and 14% in Paris.
Average Greek wages increased by roughly 27% over the same period, but that gain has not been enough to offset the sharp rental rises. Eurostat data indicate Greeks allocate a larger share of their income to housing than residents of any other EU member state.
Home ownership has also fallen. The rate slipped below 70% in 2024 - the lowest level on record - down from about 77% in 2009. For many households, buying a home has become less viable while rental costs climb.
Consequences for household budgets and consumption
As housing expenditures absorb a growing slice of income, households report cutting back on other spending categories. The IME survey found that more than 83% of Greeks said they could not save, and around 40% reduced spending on restaurants and cinema last year compared with 2024.
Public measures, such as targeted rent subsidies for low earners, exist but tenants and advocacy groups report these have had limited impact on overall affordability. The strain is visible across income brackets. "The situation is already very bad and ... it is expected to get even worse," said Nikos Kourahanis, a professor at Panteion University in Athens.
For some residents the change has been stark. Ioanna Tzaka, a 52-year-old kindergarten teacher, received an eviction notice days before Christmas after the apartment she rented in an upscale area of central Athens was sold to a Lebanese couple. She had 30 days to vacate. Seeking a comparable unit nearby proved unaffordable: rents in the area had risen to around 2,000 euros from the 1,300 euros she previously paid. She and her husband moved to the suburbs, now paying 1,500 euros per month for a rental where their 14-year-old son also lives. "It feels like an uprooting for me and my family," she said. "I grew up here. All my childs friends live here."
Implications for the broader recovery
Economists and business groups warn that the housing squeeze is more than a social issue: it is translating into weaker domestic consumption and greater household indebtedness, which can blunt the momentum of the national recovery. As rents climb and discretionary spending falls, sectors such as leisure, hospitality and retail - already affected by shifts in tourist patterns - may see slower growth from domestic demand.
Policymakers face a constrained set of options given the composition of the available housing stock and the role of foreign purchases and tourism in raising returns on property. The data compiled by banks, real estate networks and the migration ministry point to a structural mismatch between demand and supply in Greece's major cities - a mismatch that is reshaping where people live and how they spend.
Absent changes that materially expand the supply of long-term housing or reduce the conversion of residences into short-term tourist units, the current trajectory suggests continued pressure on renters and sustained limits on household discretionary spending, even as headline growth indicators remain positive.