Spitogatos highlights surprising similarities between Glyfada, Drapetsona, and Petroupoli

In a real estate market marked by sharp price increases and constant fluctuations—where sale prices and rents often follow divergent paths—the true investment value of a property has become more complex than ever.

The notion of a “bargain” in the property market is no longer self-evident. Returns now depend not only on price levels or a location’s popularity but also on the dynamic interplay between supply, demand, and the evolution of sale and rental prices.

Introducing the New Property “Thermometer”
To address this complexity, the new Property Thermometer has been launched, providing a clearer and more immediate view of returns by area, helping investors decode real market opportunities.

The first Property Thermometer was presented during the event “Greece 2026: Business, Real Estate, Investments” by Ilias Papageorgiadis and Dimitris Melachroinos, CEO of Spitogatos, offering a more transparent picture of property returns across different regions.

How the Thermometer Works
The new index is based on millions of listings and uses a simple yet powerful calculation: how many months of rent are needed to purchase a property. In other words, it indirectly reflects investment return. The more rents required to offset the purchase price, the lower the perceived return—and vice versa.

The logic behind the Thermometer is straightforward: it compares the average asking sale price with the average asking rent in each area, providing an immediate indicator of investment appeal. Early findings, however, challenge a common market perception—that “expensive” and popular areas deliver low returns, while “cheaper” areas yield higher ones.

Insights from the Data
In practice, the data show a more nuanced picture. Some areas with very different demand levels display similar returns. For example, purchasing a property requires roughly 342 months of rent in Glyfada, 335 in Petroupoli, and 332 in Drapetsona. Despite significant differences in purchase prices, returns converge, reflecting factors such as limited property supply in certain areas, which pushes prices upward.

The Thermometer also serves as a capital estimation tool, indicating approximately how much an investor would need to spend to secure rental income of €1,000 per month (pre-tax). This allows investors to compare areas not only based on purchase costs but, more importantly, on actual returns.

Trends from 2019 to 2025
A comparison between 2019 and 2025 reveals varying growth rates across the market. In several areas, sale prices rose faster than rents, compressing returns, while in others, a more balanced increase maintained stable rent-to-purchase ratios.

• In central Athens, the average number of rents required rose from 161 in 2019 to 212 in 2025, indicating a decline in returns.
• In the southern suburbs, the figure increased from 241 to 311 rents, and in Piraeus, from 184 to 242.
• Conversely, in other parts of Attica, returns improved as rents grew faster than sale prices, reducing the required number of rents from 246 to 221.

The data also reveal significant variations within local markets. Areas such as the Athens Historic Center, Papagou, Argyroupoli, Petroupoli, and Drapetsona report some of the lowest returns, with the required number of rents reaching or exceeding 300.