Property prices in Greece down 11.6% year on year, latest bank figure show. Image Property prices in Greece fell by 11.6% on an annual basis according to figures covering the second quarter of 2013 from the Bank of Greece, with cities faring worse than rural areas.

At the end of 2012 the price drop since the start of the crisis was estimated at around 30% and revised figures for the first quarter of 2013 the average decline in property prices came to 11.3% year on year, while for the whole of last year the decrease from 2011 amounted to 11.7%.

The Central Bank’s survey also revealed that the prices of older properties are falling faster this year than new property prices, which points to the fact that the sellers of the former are more eager to get them off their hands so as to get money to cope in the current age of austerity and as a result, they are willing to drop their asking prices to lower and lower levels.

In the period from April to June 2013, new apartments posted an annual price decline of 11.3% against an 11.8% drop for older flats. Revised data for the first quarter showed a 10.3% fall in prices for new apartments and 12% drop for older ones. This means that older apartments have pretty much kept the same decline rate while the fall has accelerated for new houses.

The biggest price falls are in Athens which is experiencing the fastest drop in prices around the country, averaging at 12.7% compared with Thessaloniki at 10.5% in the second quarter of 2013. This compares with an 11.5% fall in Athens in 2012 and 11.8% in Thessaloniki.

In other major Greek cities prices declined by 11.5% while in other areas the fall amounted to no more than 10% in the April to June period.

Property valuations by banks also point to a market contraction, as the total number declined from 5,600 in the first quarter of the year to 4,500 in the second, taking all first half valuations to just over 10,000. Compared with the second quarter of 2012, the second quarter decline is equal to 35.3%, the Bank of Greece data also shows. Valuations totalled 30,400 for the whole of 2012.