The return to normal life in the sector should be considered complete commercial real estate, more than two years after the shock of the pandemic. In the third quarter of this year, 40 new commercial lease transactions were registered in the country’s various commercial markets, with investment activity playing an important role as commercial real estate sales reached 150 million euros.

As mentioned in the related Proprius analysis, a real estate consultancy and a member of the international Cushman & Wakefield group, “despite strong inflationary pressures, lower unemployment and good tourist flows improved the economic climate, with retail sales recording a 10.5% increase in the third quarter of this year.” According to the company, demand for new space in popular malls was particularly strong in the third quarter, even outpacing malls. Among other things, the 13th Carrefour store was opened in Piraeus, Kotsovolos opened its first green store in Kallithea on a 2,200 m2 site, and the Polish chain Pepco entered the retail market dynamically. This particular company was located in the Piraeus Retail Park of Trade Estates in Rentys (a contribution by Kifisos and Petros Rallis) and the Fashion City Outlet in Larissa, and also arranged its presence in the Avenue shopping center. center in Marousi. ALE (a chain of fashion stores) has agreed to lease a store in the River West shopping center, and the French La Redoute has opened a new store on Kifisias Street in Chalandri. Accordingly, the sports and youth clothing chain JD Sports opened its first store in Greece, choosing Smark Park.

Ermou Street remained the country’s most expensive shopping street.

Also, new stores of various chains, mainly women’s fashion, were leased in Kolonaki (Skufa, 115 sq.m), Stadiou street (553 sq.m) and Vukurestiou street (95 sq.m). Accordingly, on Tsimiski Street in Thessaloniki, two new lease agreements for Germanos chain stores (410 sq.m.) and Folli Follie chain (140 sq.m.) were concluded. In terms of rents, Proprius points out that the overall trend is stabilizing, although in some cases a slight increase can be seen. In general, however, users are cautious as there is uncertainty about the level of future turnover.

Ermou Street was by far the most expensive shopping street in the country, with a monthly rent of 275 euros/sq.m. to the site with the greatest demand and the greatest shortage of places, i.e. near Syntagma Square. In their recent annual analysis, Cushman & Wakefield ranked Ermou as the 14th most expensive street in the world (compared to 15th in the previous corresponding poll). According to the head of Proprius, Nika Simpura, “during the pandemic, rents in Ermou stores decreased slightly, by only 4%, while over the past 12 months there has been an increase of 6%. However, it should be clarified that we are talking about rent in optimal locations,” said Ms. Simpura.

The return of foreign visitors to the center of Athens also played an important role in the rise in rents in Ermou. Ermou’s proximity to hundreds, if not thousands, of short-term properties is a major draw for many retailers who know their sales will increase if they purchase space in Ermou. This reason also fuels high rental prices.