Which areas do they prefer?
People aged 50 and over, entrepreneurs or senior and top business executives, is today the main buying public country houses in Greece. These people have saved some money and wish to acquire, mainly, a high-end newly built property in the Greek market. By far, the most numerous category concerns buyers with an available budget, starting from 250,000 euros and reaching up to 600,000 euros.
“Until before and in 2023, mainly, the “ceiling” of our customers was around 450,000 – 500,000 euros and this concerned a relatively small number, as most of them were around 300,000 – 350,000 euros. Today, we see that this has changed and there is also a demand for more expensive houses, over 500,000 euros, of course new constructions with a private pool and large spaces, a garden and other amenities”, says Giorgos Gavrielidis, managing director of Elxis-At Home In Greece, a specialized company for the sale and management of holiday homes in the Greek market, based in Utrecht, the Netherlands.
Investor Profiles
According to data from Elxis, mainly those who are currently placed in country houses are businessmen or business executives, aged between 50 and 60, who have the same use as a priority. Also, an important buying group, are younger buyers, aged 35 to 45, with high incomes, who look not only to the same use, but also to holding for a period of time and later reselling at a tax-free capital gain.
According to Elxis data, this is also the main difference between younger buyers and the rest, who still make up the majority. That is, older people choose a property for their own use and less often to exploit it, or to resell it at a profit. On the contrary, this is not the case in the younger ages, while differences also arise based on the buyer’s origin. According to Mr. Gavrielidis, the most active investors are the Dutch and secondarily the Belgians. About half of the buyers who come from these countries are investment-oriented and proceed to exploit their holiday home for the time they are not using it themselves. In fact, some of them, especially the Dutch, do not hesitate to resell it in a short period of time, if they find that they can make a significant profit.
In a recent analysis, Elxis pointed out that in recent years, the sale prices of holiday homes have been increasing at an average annual rate of 8%-10%, depending on the region. In fact, it is predicted that this rate will be maintained in the coming years as well, with the result that Greece is considered an attractive destination for those who aim to invest in the secondary residence market, it was noted in APE BEE.
Accordingly, buyers from the USA, Great Britain are mainly turning to the same use, but now also to securing a residence permit in Greece, through the “Golden Visa” program, even after the recent increase of the minimum investment amount from 250,000 to 400,000 euros, as long as the holiday home is on the mainland and not on an island, where the limit has now increased to 800,000 euros.
Buyers from countries such as Germany and France are also moving more towards own use, but some of them are also targeting rental, through short-term leasing. Especially with regard to buyers from Germany and secondarily for those from the USA, it should be noted that a percentage of them, varying between 10% and 20%, are expatriates, who wish to acquire their first home in the country from where they come from.
The areas they prefer
The buyers of country houses in the category of 250,000 – 600,000 euros choose both areas of high tourist interest and other less prominent points, depending on the “wants” of each one. For example, buyers from North West Europe (eg Dutch, Belgian, German, Swiss and French) prefer to acquire a holiday home in Crete, the Ionian Islands, the Peloponnese and Rhodes. Some of them also choose some of the islands of the Cyclades, where they can find good investment opportunities, which also applies to buyers from the USA.
