Greece offers resident status under the Golden Visa Programme for applicants who invest more than 250,000 euros in real estate.
To understand how beneficial and profitable is the Greek property market, let's just listen to Ieronymos, Archbishop of Athens and the country:
“Greece is the best piece of real estate in Europe."
And he is right; the Greek residential real estate sector offers uncomparably affordable solutions. The amount of necessary investment allows a suitable property to live or even a serious investment in the flourishing tourism industry.
The investors still aim mainly the regions of mass tourism as Mykonos, Santorini, Rhodes, Halkidiki and Crete. Hotels and holiday homes are still undervalued, and the prices are still much lower than on their highest levels, before 2009. Greek residential property prices have fallen by 42% (-45.2% in real terms) from the peak year of 2008, according to Globalpropertyguide.com (https://www.
The good news is that the Greek economy is expected to grow by 2,7% in 2017 and by an impressing 3,1% in 2018. The reason is the sharp increase in tourism. In 2014, more than 22 million tourists visited the country, and the whole trend rose to 26 million visitors in 2015, and almost 35 million visitors in 2016, forging the image of Greece as one of the most visited countries in Europe and the world.
The most interesting article in the Greek legislation of immigration, regarding the investors, is the following. Citizens of third countries may obtain the Greek permanent resident status, if:
" (d) has concluded an agreement for at least ten years lease of hotel accommodation or furnished tourist residences in tourist accommodation complexes, pursuant to the Article 8 par. 2 of the Law 4002/2011 (Government Gazette 1, no 180)."
It means that investors are allowed to qualify for the permanent resident status if they lease a part of an already profitable business in the tourism sector. And the investment can work without the personal presence of the investor. As a permanent resident of Greece, he/she can travel and stay in the other EU Member States.
According to the more than a thousand contributors of Numbeo (https://www.numbeo.com/cost-
The property prices vary by location, of course. However, these are the average market prices for qualifying real estates in Greece, according to justlanded.es:
- two-bedroom apartment €90,000 – €350,000
- two-bedroom townhouse €95,000 – €250,000
- two-bedroom bungalow/maisonette €100,000 – €300,000
- farmhouse (restored) Stone house €150,000 – €500,000 + €160,000 – €300,000
- three-bedroom detached villa €150,000 – €500,000
All the prices above show that the minimum amount of investment is more than enough to purchase one or more special real estates to live or rent. 250,000 euros is sufficient for a five-bedroom brand new villa on the island of Tinos or a maisonette of four-bedrooms in the centre of Athens.
Perhaps it 's nice to know that the beautiful Greek island of Mykonos is a gay hotspot with a vibrant nightlife. So, a two-bedroom semi-detached house with sea view in Mykonos could cost a quarter million euros. If you want more info on the Greek residency via investment, click here!