Filling the public coffers
A 20% increase in government revenues from the sale and purchase of real estate in the first half of the year.
Despite the skyrocketing property prices, the Real Estate Transfer Values Register has recorded 27 purchases and sales.760 properties, with a total value of 2.52 billion euros with revenues for the state reaching 314 million euros compared to 260.92 billion euros in the same period last year. There are no shortage of cases where properties change hands even at prices twicethe objective prices, especially in areas where the availability of valuable properties is limited.
On the other hand, receipts from transfers of real estate due to donations or parental giftsare reduced. Taxes received by the public treasury from parental gifts and donations amounted to EUR 24.46 million. EUR 26.65 million from EUR 26.65 million collected in the first half of 2023 (down 8.22%), while inheritance taxes amounted to EUR 85.24 million, down 9.82% compared to the same period last year.
The high tax-free rate of 800,000 euros which was introduced in 2022 pushed parents and grandparents en masse to transfer their assets to children and grandchildren using the very high tax-free rate. Thereafter, transfers of this kind 'slowed down'.
The Municipality of Athensis at the top of the list of property sales . In the first half of the year there were 3,921 property transfers with the total value exceeding 327 million euros and the commercial prices far exceeding - in some cases - the objective prices. A typical example is the sale of a 213 square meter, first floor apartment in Kolonaki with a construction date of 1953 which was sold for 1.8 million euros. This price corresponds to EUR 8,450 per square metre when the objective value in the area is EUR 4,250.
In Glyfada a property of 246 square meters, built in 2012, on the fourth floor was sold for 1.6 million euros with a market price of 6,533 euros per square meter when the objective is 4,250 euros.
Similarly in Exarchia an apartment of 119 sqm. of the 4th floor constructed in 1967 was sold at a price of 405,000 euros or 3,403 euros per square while in the area the objective value is set at 2,200 euros per square.
Despite the large discrepancies in commercial and property values, reportedly the Ministry of Housing has decided not to proceed with a new revaluation in 2025, as the need to solve ( or at least not to burden) the housing problem in Greece weighs more than the need to increase public revenues.
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