This is reinforced by the fact that mortgages in Greece are normally lower as a percentage of market values than elsewhere. Moreover, Greeks are more sentimentally attached to their homes than are Americans and other Europeans, and therefore perceive house-eviction as a terrible social blow.
It was useful that the rapid expansion of mortgage credit took place at a time of high growth and macroeconomic stability since this allowed banks to absorb the “growing pains” emanating from their entry in this market without impairing their stability. Developments in South-Eastern Europe in many ways resemble Greece’s experience in the preceding decade.