Dimitra Siatitsa, Laura Colini, and Simone Tulumello
Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS)
2025
🏛️ Context and Publication The policy study titled "Housing as Investment in Greece and Southern Europe: Private Profit vs Social Value" was published in 2025 by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) in collaboration with Eteron, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, and InSocial. It explores the financialization of housing in Greece and Southern Europe, emphasizing the shift from viewing housing as a social good to a mere investment asset. The research was conducted by Dimitra Siatitsa, Laura Colini, and Simone Tulumello. 📈 Housing Crisis in Greece The study highlights a severe housing crisis in Southern Europe, particularly in Greece, where housing prices surged by 66.4% from 2017 to 2024, making it increasingly unaffordable for local residents. In 2022, 28.5% of the total population and 84.5% of the poor spent over 40% of their disposable income on housing. Homeownership fell from 73% in 2011 to 70% in 2022, with the rental market expanding significantly under foreign demand and tourism influences. 🔍 Pathways of Financialization Three main pathways contributing to housing financialization are identified: 1. Private Debt Management: The management of non-performing loans has become an investment opportunity, concentrating residential properties in the hands of banks and debt servicers. 2. Touristification of Housing: Short-term rentals, facilitated by digital platforms, have converted residential properties into commodities for tourists. By 2024, Greece had around 232,841 short-term rental units. 3. Entrepreneurial Rental Markets: New corporate actors are entering the rental sector, targeting niche markets such as student housing, rather than local needs. ⚖️ Legal Mechanisms and Speculation The "Golden Visa Program," established in 2013, offers residency permits to non-EU investors purchasing property over €250,000, contributing €5.5-7 billion to the market since 2014. Additionally, legal frameworks have been created to facilitate the securitization of non-performing loans, allowing banks to offload these loans. 📉 Policy Limitations Recent Greek government housing policies have been criticized for focusing on market solutions, boosting mortgaged homeownership, and providing minimal resources for social housing. The study argues that these approaches may exacerbate issues rather than resolve them. 🌍 Comparative Analysis and Alternative Paths Greece uniquely lacks a public or non-profit housing sector compared to other Southern European nations. The study suggests three alternative policy pathways: controlling market dynamics, socializing housing through public stocks, and building democratic governance structures. 📊 Conclusion The authors conclude that mainstream housing policy solutions are often part of the problem and advocate for a shift towards policies anchored in social rights and sustainability, ensuring that both private and public investments are directed towards equitable housing systems.
Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS)
Authors
This policy study, published in 2025 by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) in partnership with Eteron, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, and InSocial, examines how housing has become increasingly financialized and treated as an investment asset rather than a social good in Greece and Southern Europe. The research was conducted by Dimitra Siatitsa, Laura Colini, and Simone Tulumello.
Context and Background
The study emerges amid a severe housing crisis across Southern Europe, particularly in Greece, where housing prices have risen dramatically since 2017 (66.4% increase from 2017 to 2024), making housing increasingly unaffordable for local populations despite appearing relatively inexpensive to foreign investors. The research analyzes how neoliberal policies, austerity measures following the 2008 financial crisis, and the growing influence of financial actors have transformed housing systems.
Key Findings
Housing Unaffordability in Greece
- Greece records some of the highest rates in Europe for housing cost overburden, with 28.5% of the total population and 84.5% of the poor population spending over 40% of their disposable income on housing costs in 2022.
- Homeownership has decreased significantly from 73% in 2011 to 70% in 2022, while the rental sector has expanded.
- The Greek housing market is increasingly shaped by foreign demand and tourism rather than local needs, with about a quarter of residential real estate transactions between 2018 and 2022 funded by Foreign Direct Investment.
Three Main Pathways of Housing Financialization
- Private Debt Management: The management of non-performing loans has become an investment opportunity for financial actors. A complex corporate system backed by public resources extracts value from these loans and their collaterals. Many residential properties are now concentrated in the hands of banks and debt servicers.
- Touristification of Residential Stock: Short-term rentals, enabled by digital platforms, have transformed housing into a commodity for tourists rather than residents. In 2024, there were up to 232,841 short-term rental units available in Greece, with 13,274 listings in Athens alone as of October 2024.
- Activation of Entrepreneurial Activity in the Rental Market: New corporate actors are entering the rental market, focusing on "niche market segments" such as student housing and corporate serviced apartments, targeting higher-income brackets rather than addressing local housing needs.
Legal Mechanisms Enabling Speculation
- Golden Visa Program: Introduced in 2013, this program offers residency permits to non-EU investors purchasing property worth over €250,000. Since 2014, it has contributed €5.5-7 billion to the real estate market, with 22,298 permits granted, driving up housing prices.
- Non-Performing Loans (NPL) Management: Legal frameworks have been created to facilitate the securitization and transfer of NPLs, allowing banks to offload these loans to specialized servicers and investors. By 2023, the nominal value of mortgage loans managed by servicers was €69.4 billion.
- Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs): While currently focused primarily on non-residential assets, there is growing pressure to expand their activity in residential property, potentially further financializing the housing sector.
Policy Responses and Their Limitations
The Greek government's housing policy packages (2022 and 2024) have been criticized for:
- Focusing primarily on boosting mortgaged homeownership through subsidized loans
- Relying on market subsidies rather than direct provision
- Providing public resources for property upgrading without conditions to limit price increases
- Allocating minimal resources to social housing programs
The study argues that these market-led approaches cannot yield sustainable outcomes in deregulated markets and may actually worsen the situation by escalating prices and intensifying social polarization.
Comparison with Other Southern European Countries
While all Southern European countries face similar housing challenges, Greece stands out as potentially the only European country without any form of public, municipal, or non-profit housing sector. Unlike Portugal, Italy, and Spain, which have developed various mechanisms for social housing production (albeit limited), Greece lacks the institutional frameworks and administrative mechanisms for social housing provision.
Alternative Policy Paths
The study proposes three main policy pathways for reorienting housing towards social values:
- Controlling market dynamics: Regulating rents, curbing speculative investments, and developing alternative financing circuits.
- Socializing housing: Expanding public and decommodified housing stocks while reducing dependence on private market solutions.
- Building democratic governance: Creating multi-level governance structures to align national and local housing policies with principles of equity and inclusion.
The authors emphasize that these changes require a decisive shift in European Union housing policy and empowering national and local governments to regain control over housing markets.
Conclusion
The study concludes that mainstream policy mechanisms presented as solutions to the housing problem-such as relying on free market dynamics, public-private partnerships, or attracting strategic investment without robust public regulation-are inherently part of the problem. It calls for housing policy to be anchored in social rights, sustainability, and the public good rather than market principles, with both private and public investment channeled towards more equitable housing systems.