Changes over time in specific characteristics of real estate local markets reflect broader metropolitan transformations. Based on this assumption, the present study discusses the shift from 'vertical' to 'horizontal' profiles of residential settlements in Athens, a traditionally compact region of Mediterranean Europe experiencing a complex building cycle over the last century. Considering buildings' height, age, and surface area through appropriate indicators derived from official statistics, allows us to delineate mono-centric and polycentric metropolitan expansion, clarify the dominant characteristics of long-term and short-term urbanization and suburbanization stages, and distinguish the different socioeconomic drivers underlying such processes. Our empirical results discriminate vertical growth (associated with population concentration and net demographic increase in central locations as a result of economic agglomeration) from horizontal growth, which reflects suburbanization and amenity-driven exurban development. Additionally, this exploratory analysis of spatial trends in official statistics provides a novel assessment of the real estate local market, delineating its responses to market stimuli, planning regulations, physical constraints on building, and the broader socioeconomic (and territorial) context. By recognizing the role of building cycles, indicators derived from official statistics can provide a solid basis for assessing the direction and intensity of long-term metropolitan growth, which would otherwise be difficult to monitor using other data sources such as remote sensing or cadastral data.