The Regional and Demographic Profile of Housing Affordability: Evidence from Greek Households

Housing affordability is at the center of European policy, as housing costs impose ever increasing budget constraints on households. In Greece, the lack of affordable housing is more prevalent than in all other EU-member countries. In this paper we employ a detailed and geographically granular dataset on household finances to investigate regional disparities in housing affordability in Greece. We also explore the socio-economic profile of households in distress due to excessive housing costs. By constructing an appropriate index, we find that housing affordability worsened from 2018 to 2021, while also revealing significant regional heterogeneity, with the issue being more pronounced in urban areas. Subsequently, we identify through both descriptive and econometric evidence, the characteristics of the most vulnerable households, revealing that younger and smaller households, the unemployed, those with lower income and especially renters are facing the highest affordability constraints. The findings provide important insights for shaping policies for affordable housing.