Greece Overhauls Property Valuation System

The Greek government is reforming how objective property values—the basis for calculating property taxes—are determined. The goal is to bring these valuations closer to actual market prices, which are typically higher than the current objective values, and in turn derive more income from property taxes.

A new tax bill, along with recent decisions by the Ministry of Finance, aims to digitize and modernize the valuation process. By making property value data available online, the government says the new approach will enhance transparency and foster confidence in the real estate market, particularly among investors.

A Better Digital Platform, Enhanced Transparency
At the center of the reform is the valuemaps.gov.gr digital platform, which is set to become the official property value registry by 2025. This platform will consolidate data from public records, municipal databases, and urban planning systems to provide accurate and up-to-date valuations.

The government says property owners will have access to detailed maps showing zone prices, valuation coefficients, and real-time calculations, updated regularly to ensure consistency with market trends.

The revamped system will expand to cover 2,167 districts, which is more than the existing geographical scope. Moreover, the system will enable large-scale property assessments through features like interactive maps, data management tools, and real-time statistics.

Updated Criteria for Objective Values
The Ministry of Finance will also redefine how certain property characteristics will be assessed to arrive at new objective values for properties. Some of the biggest changes are related to the classification of basements and semi-basements, how the government determines the age of properties and land utilization coefficients. With the new system, the classification of basements will based on criteria like building permits and windows, property age will be calculated using clarified guidelines for legal and unauthorized buildings, and land utilization coefficients will align with current urban density rules.

These updates aim to standardize assessments and create a ‘fairer’ taxation framework.

What It Means for Stakeholders
The reforms promise clearer and more equitable taxation for property owners, reliable market data for investors and real estate professionals, streamlined processes for municipalities and more tax income for Greece from 2025. Whether or not this will be the case remains to be seen.