Foreign investors are looking to the Athens property market due to the affordable prices that allow for the acquisition of assets at relatively low prices. In the first six months of the year, the Bank of Greece saw 736 million euros in foreign funds (up 94.6 per cent) injected into the realty market making it a landmark year for the real estate market.
A remarkable rise in foreigners seeking Greek properties resulted in 1.12 billion euros in 2018, noting a 172 per cent increase from 414.7 million euros in 2018, and five times the 222.4 million euros in 2016.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) showed that the total amount of investments in the Greek economy amounted to 4.25 billion euros, an increase from 3.6 billion in 2017.
READ MORE: Greece offers more ‘golden visas’ to foreign investors
The suspension of the 24 per cent value-added tax on new buildings over the next three years is expected to draw further foreign capital to the Greek real estate market. Foreign buyers may also be encouraged to seek out new VAT-free constructions and will only incur a 3 per cent transaction tax.
Data from Finnish financial group, Nordea, shows that 70-80 per cent of the annual foreign investments in the property market come from the European Union, especially Britain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Spain and Luxemburg. Non-EU citizens, such as Chinese, Russians and Arabs, invest in the Greek property market in order to obtain a Golden Visa, a five-year residence permit.
READ MORE: Tax reductions for Greek property owners that choose to renovate