“golden visa”: new customers from Israel, Switzerland and Germany

The golden visa continues to be an important incentive for foreign investors looking to buy property in Greece, with third-country nationals accounting for the largest share of the investment pie.

However, from 2022 to the present, there are two significant changes. Firstly, the role of the “Golden Visa” has decreased, as the only incentive to invest in Greek real estate. Secondly, there have been changes in the countries of origin of the funds.

Available data from the Ministry of Immigration and Asylum and the Bank of Greece show that many people chose Greece for investment, regardless of whether they had a golden visa. Real estate companies, businessmen who see Greece as a station to develop their activities in the wider region, digital nomads and retirees from foreign countries have voted for Greece with their purchases of commercial or residential real estate.

This was facilitated not only by modern facilities being built for commercial and residential purposes, but also by the fact that Greece is a safe and developed country, an ideal place for those who want to buy property for use or to live as an owner.

In the last decade, China has been the main buyer, hundreds of transactions have been made by the citizens of this country. Today the picture has changed, and new dynamic investors come from such countries as Israel, Switzerland, Germany, USA, Hong Kong, Singapore, UK, Cyprus. Even Bulgaria and Egypt play a leading role. Their investments are concentrated in residential and commercial real estate.

The Greek real estate market is on the rise, and the figures show this, since with 875 million euros in 2020 in three years, despite the international crisis, invested in Greece more than twice as much foreign capital.

According to the Bank of Greece, capital inflows into the real estate market from foreigners amounted to 1.975 billion euros in 2022 (versus 1.176 billion euros in 2021), an increase of 65%. In the first quarter of 2023, foreign direct investment in residential real estate reached 500 million euros. Among countries outside the European Union, the largest capital inflows (€1.26 billion) in 2022 came from countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Investments from these countries account for more than 50% of the total investment in Greek real estate. At the same time, the inflow of investments from the Eurozone countries, such as Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, increased significantly, the total volume of purchases of which amounted to 590 million euros, which is 25% more than in 2021. While investments from other countries EUnon-Eurozone investors have shown interest in real estate in Greece: Bulgarian investors bought property worth more than 53 million euros, when it was 31 million euros in 2021, from the Czech Republic – 12 million euros against 8 euros in 2021 , and from Romania – 15 million euros against 9 million euros a year ago.

Of the EU countries, Germany was the most dynamic market, with investments reaching 160 million euros. The Greek expatriate community is likely to be a significant factor in this growth, as there has also been an increase in investment inflows from the US and Australia, which have tripled and doubled their purchases over the past year, respectively, countries with a strong Greek element.

Source: “TA NEA”