It may be that Rent THE Athens or «Run» with a high, double-digit rate of rise during the current decade and 1 in 3 Greeks, based on its official figures Bank of Greece, spend 40% of its income to cover housing needs, but the Greek capital is still ranked on the low scale of Europe in terms of housing rents.
Moreover, the center of Athens shows a mixed return on rents exceeding 5.5%, a higher rate not only compared to other major urban centres in the country but also to many European major cities, explaining why the market continues to attract domestic and foreign investors.
Conclusion? Despite the rise in prices in recent years, Athens remains cheap in European terms, still attracting considerable investment interest, but it is very expensive for Greek incomes. Especially in view of the fact that the minimum rent in Greece based on the average price requested in the advertisements is set at more than 450 euros for an apartment of 60 sqm, «a price of more than half the gross minimum wage», as the last study of the FHME GSEBEE for the «Housing and resolution policies». The scholarly body for small and medium-sized enterprises in the country that scientifically supports GSEBEE points out that, in terms of the requested rent, the cheapest houses are costed at the average price already at 8.89 euros/sq.m. in the western suburbs of Lekanopei (and in the first quarter of 2026 above 9 euros/sq.m. based on ads) and increase significantly according to the location of the property and the specific conditions of the area, even exceeding 13 euros/sq.m in the southern suburbs.
It is indicative that, as the data from the data analysis company for the purchase of ReDataset real estate in the last three years, «family homes» In Athens, between 70 and 110 sq.m., an average increase of 18% has been recorded, based on published advertisements. The company, which is affiliated with the group Resolute Cepal Greece, finds that the average rent in the capital in the announcements for construction houses from 1960 to today and at a price of between 5 and 25 euros/sq.m. is now under 1,000, at 980 euros per month, from 830 euros in early 2023. In the areas with the largest volume of ads, Glyfada has recorded an increase of 22,2% reaching 1,320 euros per month (although growth rates have declined significantly since 9% of 2023 only to 2% in 2025, catching ceiling). To the north of Athens, in another area with many ads that many families prefer, Maroussi, over the last three years the rise reaches 20%, of the 910 euros per month, which was the average price in 2023, now reaches 1,090 euros monthly.
Athens and the other European cities
On the other hand, despite the sharp rise in rents in recent years, Athens is still only in the 27th place between 37 European capitals and major cities across Europe in terms of the level of rents, which reflects the reality that the Greek problem is not both about absolute prices and, above all, the mismatch between rents and disposable income.
The data, as evidenced by the latest analysis of the Global Property Guide, of the platform comparing data on the purchase of real estate internationally, in 88 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, for house rentals in Europe, based on size 1, 2 or 3 bedrooms are indicative: in Athens for a 1 bedroom house the average rent is estimated at 650 euros per month, rising to 880 euros for the corresponding 2 bedroom or 1,150 euros for a 3 bedroom apartment.
The platform ranks in the middle-to-low positions of the European ranking the Greek capital and in terms of sales prices: in Athens, for a 1 bedroom house the average price now shown is 135,000 euros, for 2 bedrooms at 205,000 euros and for three at 280,000 euros. In Zurich, the most expensive European market for a 1-bedroom house the average price is 1.15m euros, London at 522,000 euros and Paris at 440,000 euros. The cheapest European market is Skopje, with a price for a 1 bedroom house at 55,000 euros, while Bucharest is at 110,000 euros.
It is noted here that especially in terms of rents, based on data from the Spitogatos network, only for the period of the last few years, from 2021 to 2025, in the advertisements, the average rent increases requested are placed at 24.9% (and higher, at 28.4% in Thessaloniki) with the split of course varying according to the area. For the second quarter of 2026, the average price requested in the rents in the ads was increased by 4.5% in Attica compared to the second quarter of 2025, a change similar to that of the previous year (4.4%) – a sample that owners are not... are not afraid and maintain their expectations. For example, in very expensive Vouliagmeni the average price reaches 22 euros per square meter per month, in Kolonaki – Lycabettos the 17.9 euros/sq.m. and Old Psychiko and Philothei the 17.4 euro/sq.m., while in the cheapest Agios Stefanos the average price does not exceed 7.5 euros/sq.m. Perama has risen to 7.9 euros/sq.m., slightly lower than Paiania with 8 euros/sq.m. per month, but areas where the lowest numbers are recorded.
Rents in Europe
Pan-European, based on the analysis of the Global Property Guide platform based on data from adverts and brokers, Greece and Cyprus (Nicosia) move very close to almost the same prices in all three categories of apartments 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms and are lower than Belgrade and Budapest, while cheaper markets are those of the neighbouring Balkans in Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia.
In very cheap Skopje the price for a one bedroom apartment is 280 euros/month, goes up to 370 euros for a 2 bedroom house and 550 euros for a 3 bedroom house. On the other hand, the most expensive markets, based on the same ranking - and without, of course, taking into account the very critical aspect of the proportion of disposable income into rent - are London and Zurich, followed in Amsterdam by completing the top 3 of the most expensive European cities: in the case of London for a one-bedroom apartment the Global Property Guide places average rent at 2,795 euros, while in Zurich the figure is slightly lower, at 2,720 euros/month and in the Netherlands at 2,255 euros/month. The platform specifies that it takes into account the average prices requested from published advertisements.
The most popular Paris is lower, at 1,800 euros/month, as is Luxembourg, while even lower is Milan and Lisbon at an average price of 1,500 euros, according to the information from the platform.
The odds
The return of rents to homes from 1 to 3 bedrooms, as measured by the platform, with the highest recorded in Ireland and the United Kingdom, above 8.5% (mixed performance) and Athens also making satisfactory numbers at 5.5%. Net rent returns are usually 15%–35% lower than mixed returns, depending on factors such as property taxes, shared, maintenance costs, insurance, periods where the property remains vacant and generally total property costs.
For example, in Liverpool the gross rent rate is 8.6%, 8.2% is in Palermo, while from the European capitals, the highest figures are recorded in Bucharest, with a 7.5% return, Riga with 7.2% and Dublin with 7%. In Hamburg, Zurich and Geneva the respective percentages range between 2.4% and 2.6%. Athens - especially the city centre - offers a performance of 5.52%, the highest among the major Greek cities, where Patra is at 4.68% and Thessaloniki at 4.19%.
Gross returns are calculated by dividing the median rental price by the median price requested, using the average of the median sales prices requested for apartments 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms in each city.
Source: Newmoney. gr
