ECONOMY

Opportunities abound at prime destinations

There are hundreds of properties available for purchase on the island of Myconos from individual owners and professional builders alike as it is expected that this year will be their last opportunity to make sales without having to suffer too significant a loss.

In fact, Myconos along with Santorini, Crete and Rhodes is among the few holiday destinations that continues to enjoy robust demand in the real estate market, even though it is slightly down from previous years. The reason for this is that these destinations are extremely popular with holidaymakers from Greece and abroad and as such have proven more resilient under the present circumstances in terms of real estate prices.

According to realtors, the drop in prices on Myconos this year stands at around 10 to 12 percent, which is quite a bit lower than the average 15 to 20 percent noted in the rest of Greece?s holiday home market. Add to this the fact that there was a similar drop in 2010 and prices had already started dipping in 2008 and 2009 because of the economic crisis in many of the countries from which Greece?s visitors come, then the overall drop in the price of holiday homes can be estimated at around 50 percent in the past five years.

In some cases of luxury homes, it is estimated that the reduction is even greater. On Myconos especially, the surplus of holiday homes for sale has been added to by individual owners under pressure due to the crisis or debts who are hoping to raise cash from the sale of property.

On the demand side, there has been a drop this year compared to the past, while it also appears that interested buyers can be separated into two categories: those interested in small properties worth well below 1 million euros and those looking for luxury properties and villas whose prices may well exceed 50 million euros.

According to Ioannis Revythis, the head of the Athens-Attica Realtors? Association, ?the middle category of buyers appears to have disappeared completely.?

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