According to data collected from credit institutions,() nominal apartment prices are estimated to have declined on average by 11.7% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2012. For the first and second quarters of 2012, based on revised data, apartment prices fell at an annual rate of 9.3% and 10.2%, respectively, while for the whole of 2011 the average decline was 5.4% (Q1: -5.4%,
Q2: -5.1%, Q3: -4.7% and Q4: -6.5%) versus 4.7% in 2010.

Apartment prices by age and geographical area

More specifically, the year-on-year rate of decline in prices was 13.5% for "new" apartments, (i.e. up to 5 years old) and 10.5% for "old" apartments (i.e. over 5 years old) in the third quarter of 2012. In 2011 as a whole, based on revised data, the average annual rate of decline in the prices of "new" and "old" apartments was 4.9% and 5.7% respectively, while a similar pattern was observed in 2010 ("new": -4.2%, "old": -5.0%) and 2009 ("new": -2.0%, "old": -4.8%). However, since the first quarter of 2012, the rate of decline in prices for "new" apartments constantly increases - compared to the "old" apartments - which reflects the gradual decline in relatively greater price resilience of newly-built apartments during the current crisis.

According to data broken down by geographical area, apartment prices are estimated to have declined year-on-year in the third quarter of 2012 by 12.3% in Athens, 10.6% in Thessaloniki, 10.1% in other cities and 12.4% in other areas of Greece. In 2011 prices dropped on average year-on-year by 6.4%, 6.9%, 4.0% and 4.2% respectively, according to revised data. These figures show that in 2011 as well as in the first quarters of 2012 apartment prices registered a stronger decline in the two major urban centers, Athens and Thessaloniki, compared with other regions.

More detailed tables on house prices by geographical area (Athens, Thessaloniki, other cities and other areas), which also distinguish between "new" (up to 5 years old) and "old" (over 5 years old) apartments, are published in the "Bulletin of Conjunctural Indicators" (Tables