Property rates set to increase

The new values will start applying from January 1, 2021, provided developments on the coronavirus pandemic front allow it, otherwise it will be postponed till the second half of next year.

The competent committees of the Finance Ministry will process the surveyors’ recommendations and if they identify an area with two very different estimates by surveyors, a third will be invited to give their view.

Once the process is completed, the ministry’s political leadership will decide whether the new zone rates will be brought to the same level as the market prices or will be slightly below the going rates. In any case, the pledge of the ministry to the country’s creditors is for objective values to be on a par with the market rates.

Sources say that there are recommendations for a 10%-15% hike in the objective values of areas such as Agia Paraskevi in northern Athens and Karpenisi in central Greece. As for the caldera area of Santorini, the zone rate currently stands at 1,600 euros per square meter while the surveyors are recommending that the objective value there should rise to €3,000/sq.m. However, the actual market prices there range between €4,000 and €4,500/sq.m. In this case the objective value will not be equal to the market price but up to 50% below it.

The surveyors’ proposals point to hikes in the center of Athens, which benefited in recent years from the rapid rise of the short-term rental market, as well as to less privileged areas where the objective values have been kept at low levels on social grounds.

Besides the above areas, one should expect hikes in another 4,132 areas around the country where the previous government decided to keep the objective values at the same level during the latest adjustment so as not to lead to tax hikes.

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Source: https://www.ekathimerini.com/257916/article/ekathimerini/business/property-rates-set-to-increase