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The last year was hard for those who own and those who deal with real estate. And the chance for reforms provided by the Memorandum with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund is not used sufficiently effective. This was the opinion that the experts at a forum on the problems and opportunities of the real estate market in Greece in times of crisis agreed on.

The President of Commercial & Industrial Chamber of Athens Kostadinos Michalos noted during the forum that the policy imposed in the last year has hurt both brokers and owners of real estate in the country. The construction sector is facing the most serious problems as due to the expensive credits it has frozen and recorded losses in millions. Michalos said that the real estate market reflects the economic reality in the country.

The drop in the transactions registered in the last year is the direct result of the change in real estate taxation. Imposing a new tax on inherited property, increasing the tax assessments in times of crisis and raising the inhabited house duty for the Greek households are measures that freeze the real estate market and further drain the Greek economy. He said that he understood the difficult task of the present government, which should reduce the deficit, but at the same time stressed that in this way traditionally strong sectors of the Greek economy would be destroyed.

It is time to seize the opportunity given to us and to put order in the country, said at the same forum Lambros Anagnostopoulos – the founder of the real estate market investment projects development company SECURE Investments. According to him, the socialist government of PASOK and the public institutions in the country have the golden opportunity to correct fundamental mistakes in a period of low interest loans fixed in the Memorandum of financial support from the eurozone countries and the IMF.

Anagnostopoulos returned back to the beginning of the economic crisis, aiming to show that any harm can cause something good. "The crisis of the global real estate market began in markets outside Europe at a time when the prices in many countries in Europe and North America were rising," said Lambros Anagnostopoulos. At that time, banks and financial institutions due to high returns created a number of investment products based on the real estate market.
 
After the beginning of the economic crisis the risk of these investments appeared to be high. Then panic came because the old myth that real estate investments are secure and steady was busted. Fearing of the domino effect, some governments injected money into financial institutions that have invested in real estates to save them from possible bankruptcy. Then the question came how to pull the money back, after sufficient fresh money was provided to the economy and when the dangers were avoided and the market stabilized.
  
Although the real estate crisis that began overseas did not affect the countries of Southeastern Europe and Greece in the beginning, the ensuing recession and the global market shrinkage influenced the Mediterranean country. Financial and structural problems of Greece uncovered to the world and the government had to take measures to reduce the budget deficit through cuts in spending and raising taxes.

"It is easy to inject money, but then becomes very difficult to withdraw it from the people," said Lambros Anagnostopoulos. He said there are two ways to do this. The one is to apply prompt and stringent measures that will inevitably cause severe crisis. It, however, will be overcome quickly. The other option is to take slow steps that would not be so drastic, but will prolong the agony of reform in the long term.

Thus, the economist indirectly blamed the Greek government for the manner and methods chosen to revive the Greek economy. He stressed that poor management is the main reason for the current state of the country. He gave an example that if the money injected in the economy for the past 20 years have been used in the right way the average pension in Greece today should be 5000 euros instead of 1000 euros as it is. Anagnostopoulos expressed confidence that the abandoned shops in downtown will start to work after three or four years, but of course the rental price must be consistent with the turnover of the companies that rent them.

In his opinion, the empty shops were inevitable because of the drastic drop in consumption, but he believes that things will normalize in the medium term. He urged the government not to lose time and money in the formation of committees as to who is to blame for the current financial situation but to focus on public organizations reforming.
 
It will become easy to attract foreign investments when Greece develops a more rapid and effective system for issuing building permits and when supervisors begin to fulfill their obligation responsibly and fairly, including the urban planning agency, municipalities and technical supervisors by regions. According to him, the time and the financial support that Greece has been provided enable it to become an efficient and properly functioning country. The economist concluded that if this opportunity is missed, the Greek governments will still discuss after ten years the measures to be applied to take the country out of the crisis.