Student rents have risen 128% over the past decade and 7.3% in the past year. [Shutterstock]
Smaller apartments, furnished and fully equipped homes, and co-living are reshaping Greece’s student housing market as students and parents struggle with rising rents. Demand is so strong that a typical small apartment near a university or good public transport can be rented within days.
In comments to Kathimerini, Dimitris Oikonomou, co-founder of MyStudentFlat with Elena Orfanidou, said tenant turnover averages 17 days in Athens, 18 in Thessaloniki and 21 in Patra, and can be even faster when no cleaning or repairs are required.
In more mature European markets, turnover is much quicker: three days in Amsterdam, five in Rotterdam, up to seven in Lisbon, five in Barcelona and six in Malaga, according to Bonard Student Housing Intelligence.
According to Oikonomou, the Netherlands has become particularly attractive to international students, partly because many now avoid the UK following Brexit. Spain and other southern European destinations are also drawing students from eastern Europe and Italy, intensifying competition for small homes.
