NEW YORK TIMES FOR GREEK REAL ESTATE: THE WORLD BUYS AS IF THERE IS NO TOMORROW
The New York Times finds an explosion of buying interest in Greek real estate, as the economy recovers after the ten-year crisis and the savings that have accumulated in the pandemic are looking for safe investments, moneyreview.gr reports. “All the macroeconomic indicators are getting better and better. “After they did not spend much during the lockdown in the pandemic, people are looking to put their money into a safe investment, such as real estate,” said Antonis Markopoulos, co-founder and CEO of Prosperty, a start-up. up that uses a digital platform to make transactions faster and more transparent.
For Sotheby’s International Realty, 2021 proves to be the best year since 2016, when it started operating in Greece. “We made four or five times more sales in 2020 than in 2019, and this year is even better,” George Kasimis, Sotheby’s International Realty, head of sales in the Aegean, told the New York Times. “People buy as if there is no tomorrow,” he said. According to Markopoulos, the pandemic has boosted interest, as many see real estate as a safer investment than currencies or commodities. Especially the apartments in the center of Athens are in great demand both among domestic buyers and among foreign investors, he notes. “There is a huge demand for short-term leases, so the returns that investors can make are extremely high,” he said, noting that depending on the neighborhood, apartments sell for between 1,500 and 3,500 euros per square meter.
The buying interest from abroad and in the southern suburbs is important, partly due to the investment in Elliniko. In this context, apartment prices increased across the country by 7.9% in the third quarter, compared to last year, while in Athens they increased by 9.8%. The wealthy Greeks, who lately are especially prosperous in shipping, are moving the most expensive part of the market, as Giannis Ploumis, of Ploumi-Sotiropoulos, tells the NY Times. Sales are strong in Mykonos and Porto Heli, where the real estate agency sold $ 27 million worth of property last month, at one of the highest prices ever recorded in the area.
Who buys
According to the New York Times, Greece has long been popular with foreign buyers, with most coming from EU countries. But Ploumis-Sotiropoulos also works with buyers from the Middle East, Turkey, Britain and the United States. It is noted that since the beginning of the year, 9,300 residence permits have been issued, under the Golden Visa program, compared to 8,575 last year. Most were given to investors from China, Turkey and Russia.