News
The government is launching a comprehensive digital property registry system to combat widespread tax evasion in the real estate sector, addressing a longstanding problem where properties are declared vacant while simultaneously paying for electricity, water and utilities.
Greece's tax authority has digitized the process for property transfers, fulfilling a promise to cut red tape.
The relentless surge in rental prices across Greece shows no signs of abating in 2025, with Vouliagmeni retaining its status as the most expensive neighborhood for rentals in the Athens metropolitan area. A combination of short-term rental platforms like Airbnb, economic pressures, and urbanization is driving a nationwide housing shortage, making long-term leases increasingly scarce and costly.
The capital gains from sales price increases and the significant income from renting property out via digital short-term rental platforms make the purchase and exploitation of holiday homes in Greece a particularly profitable investment, according to research by Elxis – At Home in Greece, which specializes in selling holiday homes to foreign buyers.
More and more people are interested in acquiring a property, not to meet their needs, but as an investment. Although the average rent is approaching the monthly installment of a mortgage, the difficulty of accessing the housing market due to high sales prices remains.
Greece’s Golden Visa Program will be subject to tightened monitoring of investments.
New terms and conditions for granting as well as monitoring the investment have been introduced.
If an investor does not meet the conditions of the investment, authorities may revoke their residence permits.
The single property register, which will be activated early next year with the aim of reducing bureaucracy in transfers, will attempt to put an end to the discrepancies in the square meterage of properties, and each property will acquire a unique identity for all entities and services.
The share of real estate purchases and sales through the Golden Visa program reached 10.77% of the total volume of real estate purchases and sales in the two-year period 2023-24, based on the latest available data.
More than half a billion euros is expected to be invested by the end of the decade in converting old industrial properties into mixed-use complexes, with a focus on housing.
Three new categories of real estate investment through the Golden Visa program are identified by British investment migration company Astons in a new analysis of the Greek market.
The upward trend in capital inflows from abroad for the acquisition of real estate continues this year, as, according to Bank of Greece data, a total of 1.9 billion euros has been invested in the first nine months of this year, an amount that is 17% higher than the same period in 2023. Given that inflows had totaled €2 billion in 2023, it is obvious that 2024 will mark a historic high in foreign investments in the property market.
It takes an average of nine to 12 months for the sale of a house to be completed in Greece today, starting from posting the relevant ad until finding a buyer, reaching an agreement with them, and then preparing the necessary documents for the transfer of the property titles.
Non-compliance carries severe penalties, with violators faced with a fine equal to 10% of the unverified transaction amount.
Next week the Tourism Ministry is putting up for consultation a bill introducing a framework of regulatory specifications for the operation of apartments and houses as short-term rental accommodation.
Greece is likely to end its Golden Visa program's real estate investment option in January 2025 to combat its housing crisis. This follows similar moves by Portugal and Spain and reflects a shift towards attracting investment in startups rather than property.
The Greek real estate sector has expressed dissatisfaction with the recent changes made by the government to the country’s Golden Visa program.
The real estate market and capital inflows from abroad for the acquisition of mainly houses have this year provided a lifeline to the foreign direct investments made in Greece.
Greece’s Golden Visa program has been in a transitional period since September 1, when the new changes voted a few months ago came into force.
The number of empty lots – properties without buildings – not declared to the national property registry is about 3.3 million, or 22% of the total. Similarly, undeclared built properties, including flats in apartment buildings, exceed 147,000.
A comparison of the asking prices in different parts of the country clearly demonstrates that hikes have mainly affected the two large urban centers and popular tourist destinations, and much less other cities, especially in northern Greece, where it is still very easy to acquire a residence at a cost below 1,000 euros per square meter.
Real estate investment continues to account for the lion’s share as a percentage of total foreign direct investment flowing into Greece.
After inviting foreign investors to qualify for Golden Visas by buying properties, Greece is looking at limiting how many nights apartments and homes can be used for short-term rentals, which spiked prices and is drying up the market. While the New Democracy government has since stopped the practice, Golden Visa holders had scooped up multiple properties when the threshold for qualifying was only 250,000 euros ($270,272) and saw many put those out for nightly rentals.
Interest from abroad in residential property continues to grow while domestic demand flags. Demand by Greeks for the purchase of property is in decline, linked to the estimates for a slight slowdown in the rate of price growth by 2025, per the latest survey by the Spitogatos.gr network, while interest from abroad keeps growing.
Greek tourism enjoyed a huge leap in the first quarter of the year, compared to the first three months of record year 2023. It showed growth of almost 25% in foreign arrivals per the data published on Tuesday by the Bank of Greece, with the short-term rentals accounting for the lion’s share of that increase.
Despite increases to Greece’s golden visa limits, there are currently 9,478 applications up for review, 6,228 of which submitted in 2023, according to the latest data released by the Migration & Asylum Ministry.
More specifically, a total of 1,299 new applications for the country’s popular investor visa were submitted in the first two months of the year compared to 1,248 last January and February and 664 visas granted.
Even before the grace period till end-August was granted, interest continued unabated.
Nearly half (44%) of more than 200 Greek property market executives who participated in Cerved Property Services’ annual market survey expect further growth in property prices, which is set to happen for both new-build and old homes.
The Finance Ministry presented on Thursday changes to the Golden Visa program increasing the minimum amount a third national needs to invest and secure the residence permit, in an effort to tackle the country’s housing crisis.
Bank of Greece data show 1.1 billion euros flowed into the country from abroad in January-June, up 39.5% from last year, when foreign investments amounted to €788 million. Growth accelerated in Q2, when €605.8 million was invested, for a 46.2% yearly increase. Throughout 2022 €2 billion had flowed in, up 68% from 2021
