Intense interest from British, American, and other investors from countries outside the EU (e.g. from Israel, Canada, etc.) has been registered in our country recently. The interest is focused on holiday homes located around the cities in popular tourist destinations in Greece and was manifested to a greater extent after the changes made to the Golden Visa program last year.
What countries are the buyers from?
This trend is expected to become more evident in the coming months, when a significant number of sales will be completed. Already, however, there has been an increase in the number of British and American buyers of holiday homes, who now also seek to secure the Golden Visa, which was not the case until a year ago. Correspondingly, the buying interest from Canada and Israel is also increased.
According to figures from the Department of Immigration and Asylum, the number of permits granted to UK investors rose by 77.8% to 370 by the end of November 2023, up from 208 in January of the same year. Accordingly, permits to US citizens (among them several second- and third-generation expatriates) have increased by 47.5%, from 183 in early 2023 to 270 by the end of November. These numbers are expected to rise sharply in the coming months, due to the long delay in approvals of existing permit applications.
The countries with the greatest interest in buying property in Greece
The impressions of the international public seem to have been “stolen” by Halkidiki for 2023 in terms of the search for property for sale in Greece. They are followed by the center of Athens, the Southern Suburbs of Athens, the Cyclades and the Suburbs of Thessaloniki.
In Halkidiki, the areas with the greatest demand are Kassandra, Sithonia, Kallikrateia, Moudania and Pallini.
Focusing on the area of the center of Athens, the areas that gathered the most interest are Kolonaki-Lykavittos, Pagrati, the Historic Center, the Ampelokipoi-Pentagono area and Kypseli.
Paros takes the lead in the Cyclades in terms of international demand for real estate for sale in 2023, followed by Mykonos, Naxos, Syros and Santorini. In the suburbs of Thessaloniki, Thermaikos, Kalamaria, Thermi, Evosmos and Epanomi were the most popular areas for buying property for those interested from abroad. In the Southern Suburbs of Attica, the interest of the international demand for properties for sale was concentrated in Glyfada, Voula, Paleo Faliro, Vouliagmeni and also Kallithea.