The average rate of coverage of housing costs in terms of declared incomes in Greece is 28% if housing loans are not calculated and increases to 32% if mortgage installments are included.
This is the second highest percentage among the eleven strongest economies of the eurozone, even surpassing the corresponding percentages in countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and France – where average incomes are much higher than those in our country. In absolute numbers, the average monthly housing cost in Greece is estimated at 400 euros without a mortgage loan and 600 euros with a mortgage loan.
ECB: The roof is an elusive dream in Europe: Loans, taxes and maintenance raise the cost
This results from new data published yesterday by the European Central Bank and concerning January 2024. Housing costs are defined as the monthly costs of a house mainly in rent, mortgage installments and utility bills (electricity, natural gas , water etc).
The ECB data shows that housing costs are constantly rising for households in the eurozone, including Greece, due to burning increases in mortgage repayments due to high interest rates, high rents and revaluations in utility bills. Average housing costs are estimated to have risen across the eurozone by 10.2% since July 2022, when the ECB’s interest rate hikes began.
Delayed payments by households are increasing
These increases have the effect of increasing the proportion of households in the single currency area who estimate that they will be late in paying obligations such as rent or bills or loans, the ECB warns.
The percentage has risen to 20% based on January 2024 data, up from about 15% in 2023. The percentage has also doubled to nearly 30% citing fears of late mortgage payments.
These figures are mentioned in the ECB report entitled “How big is the housing burden of households?” Data from the ECB Consumer Expectations Survey” and data concerning the eleven largest economies in the eurozone, as can be seen in the graphs presented by the Economic Post.
Housing jumps 10.2% after rate hikes
In the period from July 2022 – the start of the rate hike cycle – to January 2024, average housing costs reported in the Survey of Consumer Expectations rose cumulatively by around 10.2%, compared to the cumulative rise in the Harmonized Consumer Price Index by 5.5% in the same period, reports the ECB.
Total costs have risen by around 6% for property owners, and by 12% and 9% for mortgagees and renters respectively. The increases are attributed to different factors: For owners, the increase is due to rising home maintenance costs, although utility costs have eased slightly due to the recent moderation in energy prices after rising through 2022. 
For home owners, the main driver for the appreciation was an increase in mortgage installment payments attributed to higher interest rates on existing variable rate mortgages. For renters, costs have largely followed rent developments, as well as trends in utility bill prices as renters have less flexibility to absorb unexpected expenses, the ECB notes.
Housing costs absorb about 20% of disposable income for homeowners, 40% of income for renters, and 35% for homeowners. Eurostat considers as excessively burdened a household whose housing costs absorb 40% of the income and above.
How burdened a household is varies dramatically across income brackets. In the lowest income quintile, more than 60% of households are overburdened, especially if they pay rent. The most burdened households with higher incomes are mostly mortgage holders who are struggling to pay the cost of their loans.
How much do landlords, tenants and borrowers incur?
On average across eurozone countries, housing costs take up around 20% of disposable income for owners, 40% for renters and 35% for those living in a home with a mortgage, the ECB says. 
However, as noted, this differs across income groups, with the housing cost index rising slightly for the top 20% of incomes among households with mortgages and renters. This cost ratio appears to remain fairly stable for the bottom 50% of incomes, the ECB report says.
“This difference reflects, on the one hand, the fact that higher-income households are more likely to take out mortgages and generally do so for larger amounts, while, on the other hand, there has been stronger income growth for lower-income households. This is likely to be attributed in part to the recent targeted income support measures implemented by the largest euro area governments,” report the economic bulletin’s editors, Homeri Kouvavas and Desislava Rousinova.
