Apartment building construction trends 2026: 8 facts for construction companies
Eight findings from the 2026 building permits that every construction company and building-materials supplier should know: where building is happening, what is being built and what is coming.
1. A steady market, not a boom
By 23 October 2026, 908 new apartment buildings had received their first building permit, 20% more than in the same period of 2025. Almost all of the difference, however, comes from the first quarter, when 2025 had "frozen" after the Council of State ruling on the bonuses of the NOK (the New Building Regulation). From April onwards, both years run at around 100 new apartment buildings a month. Details in the article new apartment buildings 2026.
2. Attica is gaining share
58% of new apartment buildings are in Attica (531 of 908), compared with 55% last year. Attica accounted for 114 of the 153 additional projects in 2026.
3. The southern and eastern suburbs are the new centre of gravity
Ilioupoli (7 → 24), Elliniko-Argyroupoli (7 → 17), Agios Dimitrios (9 → 20), Vyronas (5 → 13), Glyfada (27 → 35): the zone from Glyfada to Vyronas has the biggest rise in the country. The Municipality of Athens stays first with 79. The full ranking is in the article cities with the most building permits.
4. Fewer very large projects
Total built area stayed almost the same (541,678 m² against 537,841), while the number of buildings rose. The average apartment building fell from 712 to 597 m², but the median stayed almost the same (465 m² against 463). This means the typical project has not changed; what dwindled were the few very large complexes that push up the average.
5. Low and mid-rise buildings dominate
Six in ten new apartment buildings have 4 or 5 levels (counting the ground floor or pilotis, an open ground level on columns). Only 8% have 8 or more. The distribution is almost the same as in 2025.
6. More parking per building
The 2026 permits provide for 6,202 parking spaces, that is 6.8 per apartment building, against 6.2 last year. For anyone doing excavation, basements, garage doors and mechanical parking systems, this means more work per project.
7. Companies in half of the projects
In 490 of the 908 new apartment buildings (54%) a company is among the owners of the project, against 52% last year. For a supplier this means that in one project in two there is a registered company name, in other words an official party to contact, so they know whom to approach.
8. Renovations move with the subsidies
Small-scale building works approvals for existing buildings reached 100,887 (80,001 last year, +26%). The rise is mainly due to insulation (+68%), which peaked from March to July, a period that coincides with the implementation period of Exoikonomo (the subsidy programme for home energy upgrades), and fell from August. Photovoltaics on buildings halved (993 against 2,058). See the article Exoikonomo and insulation.
And an early signal: demolitions
The map currently shows 1,070 demolition permits from the last six months, on plots that do not yet have a new building permit. Not every demolition leads to a new apartment building. In cities, however, it is often the first step, months before the construction permit. Anyone who follows them learns about projects before the others.
How we count
New apartment buildings: buildings with at least 4 levels and dwellings on at least 2 floors, on the date of the first building permit. Comparisons are with the same period of 2025. Source: acts of the Technical Chamber of Greece (TEE) on Diavgeia (the government transparency portal), to 23 October 2026. The causes mentioned (NOK, Exoikonomo) are documented in the respective articles; the acts on their own show what happened, not why.